An Alchemical Experience
by Syldoran
Summary: Jordan's life was fine at first. . . until she's taken to Amestris through some unknown means, and found with a full military uniform, but without records of being on the force. She learns not to care. . . how's she going to get home?
1. Make A Wish

_This is set around the time that Ed is fourteen and Al's thirteen. Just so we're clear on ages._

**TZ: For the sake of time, and the fact I am tired, have a sore throat, can't think of anything, and have stiff fingers that are affecting my ability to type, I'll just say that sadly, I don't own any of the FMA characters.**

**Edward: Why do I have this strange feeling this will be the only time?**

**TZ: Um...ah...penguin?**

* * *

"Aw crap, I have to go and I have to go now!" The thirteen year old shouted. Her voice was muffled slightly as her mouth was covered by a layer of gray fabric. Her glasses were pulled askew as she attempted in vain to pull on her favorite gray fastpitch hooded jacket, get her backpack on, and not trip over a small black and brown dog that happened to be underfoot all over the house this morning. 

"Hon, put on your heavy coat! It's in the teens this morning," her mother protested.

"Mom, I don't have time, I really, really have to go or I'm going to miss my bus!" Jordan argued, finally able to get her sweatshirt on, glasses put up correctly, and her backpack on her shoulders, in that order.

Her mother sighed. "Could you at least get Sabre before you leave? That dog wants in really badly, and I'm trying to get your brother and sister ready for school."

Jordan growled and dropped her backpack, running across the house toward the sliding glass door that led to the backyard. In her rush, she failed to notice that the door was indeed closed. The resounding "thud!" echoed through the house as she got up, stomped outside, brought the offending black labrador and pointer mixed breed dog inside, then bolted back through the house and out the front door, scooping up her backpack on the way.

The early morning was clear and lovely. Large flakes of fluffy white snow fell from the sky, adding to the three and a half inches from the day before. In the morning silence, little could be heard except for the rare chittering bird and the sounds of engines stalling as adults started up their cars for a day of work.

This quiet was broken as Jordan sprinted with plenty of difficulty across the street, her blue and grey sneakers getting little to no traction on the frozen slush that covered the road. The sound of her yelping and cursing as she tried to maintain her balance pierced the cold morning air.

"I can't miss the bus! If I miss any of my social studies class I'll totally have absolutely no idea what's going on!" She moaned to herself as she tried using some of the snowier parts of the road to stay upright while running to her bus stop, marked clearly by the stop sign at the end of the street. "I can't believe my alarm didn't go off last night, I know for a fact I turned the switch on!"

Apparently the slippery conditions of the outdoors were against her as well this morning, for she stepped on one particularly invisible sheet of ice on the ground and fell on her front into a large snowbank along the roadside. She got up muttering to herself as she tried to brush the mud off her jeans and empty her sweatshirt of chilling snow at the same time as running and trying to shake the water off her glasses.

She was finally able to reach the bus stop in a single piece, panting from her run. The other two kids at the bus stop gave her an odd look as the bus pulled in and opened its door with a screech of unoiled hinges.

Taking a seat next to some girls that she didn't know in the slightest and fingering a lock of frozen, long brunette hair that happened to be the result of going out in below-freezing weather, Jordan realized that she had not actually turned on her alarm the night before. Instead, she had fallen asleep while watching a movie.

It was going to be one of those days.

---------------------

"So what were you saying before Mr. McDow started his lecture again?" Jordan asked of the blonde-haired girl sitting in front of her. The girl, Tommie, turned around as she slid a textbook into her bag, adjusting her own glasses.

"Oh, just something about the picture you had," Tommie said with a shrug. "It wasn't important."

"This one?" Jordan asked, and reached into her backpack with one hand to pull out a tattered blue folder while the other hand put away a sketchbook. From the folder she removed a piece of paper, which had a picture printed on it in colored ink. The image depicted a blonde boy roughly around the age of the two girls, standing in front of a suit of armor, his hands down on an intricately decorated circle surrounded by a blue light. The blonde was looking up at the armored one over his shoulder, grinning, while the armor held up a small brown kitten, for some odd reason.

"Yeah. I just thought it was funny to see most of the picture kind of serious, but then Alphonse back there was holding the little kitten," Tommie laughed.

Jordan chuckled and held the picture up to the light. "Yeah. That's why I like this one so much. I'm probably going to try drawing it soon. As long as I don't lose it. If I print anything more from the computer my dad will get mad at me for wasting so much printer ink. But, 'Full Metal Alchemist' rules, so he'll have to live with it."

A melodic tune rang from the intercom, signaling it was time to move onto the second period class. Jordan slung her backpack over her shoulder, but in the process her picture slipped from her fingers and fluttered to the floor. Before she could move to pick it up again, several pairs of feet of dashing students stomped over the picture.

"Aw man. That was my favorite one," Jordan complained as she snatched up the picture, wrinkled and covered in filthy footprints. This was adding to her already somewhat sour mood.

--------------------

"Come on guys! This is a team effort! In JROTC, it is not time for you to screw around! So be it if Ashley and I want to get some actual work done!" Jordan shouted at the square formation of eighth and ninth grade cadets. "It is not that freakin' difficult to stand still at attention! Stop playing with your hair, stop talking, just listen!" Her temper was flaring. Very few people enjoyed being around her during that time.

The brown-haired girl next to her pitched in. "We're going to try marching again!" The girl yelled. "Now, left _face_!" The class turned to their left on a one-two count, though many people were off. That would have to be fixed later.

"Travis, cadence," Jordan directed to the boy closest to her in the formation. "Forward, _march_!"

The class began marching forward, directed by Travis's cadence. A few people were off-step, but that was okay for now.

"Ashley, which do you want to strangle first?" Jordan asked her assisting officer in command. The brown-haired girl smirked and turned her attention back to the class, moving around to direct others onto cadence and fix their spacing.

"Shut up, Marina!" Another girl whispered not so quietly.

"No, I won't be quiet!" A dark skinned, dark haired girl snapped, attitude thick in her voice. "You have to get this right, and I won't stop until you do."

"Class halt!" Jordan shouted. "Marina, fall out and do ten push-ups now."

"Why should I?" Marina retorted, crossing her arms and assuming a stance.

"Because you were talking while marching and giving commands you were unauthorized to do. _Ten_."

"You're not all that, Jordan," a blonde said, "You don't have to give push-ups for things that you just don't like."

"Heather, you do ten also," Jordan said, glaring at the two girls. "Now. _Both_ of you."

"There's-"

"Do the freaking ten push-ups already!" Jordan yelled, her voice just shy of cracking from the volume.

"Fine, you don't have to yell," Heather said as the two girls knelt down into push-up position and did their ten.

"Now, everybody listen! I don't care if you don't like us, but you're going to listen! Ashley and I are class leaders! God forbid we want to get some _work_ done!" Jordan shouted.

When the intercom sounded the tone for the class to go to lunch ten minutes later, Jordan and Ashley were both about to hit their heads against the nearest brick wall, so sick of being unable to control the class were they.

"Hey Ashley, remember that 'coat chimera' thing we made up the other day?" Jordan asked through gritted teeth as the two walked toward the cafeteria.

"Yeah."

"We could use one."

Ashley laughed. "Yeah, that would be nice, wouldn't it?"

"Exactly." Jordan slowed down her pace suddenly, clutching an arm over her stomach with a moan. "Ooh...Not feeling so good now. Headache, stomach ache...It's all the ROTC class's fault."

--------------------

"Okay, time for some good ol' anime. That's never failed me!" Jordan said wearily as she stepped into the house and shook some snow from her hair, tied back into a ponytail. This was one of her worst days of school yet. Nothing in any of her classes seemed to go the right way today.

She dropped herself into the comfortable chair in front of her father's laptop, seeing as he wasn't yet home. Pushing the small silver button and listening to the humming of the laptop as it warmed up, she stood up and went to the kitchen for a snack. Coming back with a small bag of pretzels, she carefully logged herself into her own account, being careful not to drop any crumbs or salt on the keyboard, lest she face the wrath of her dad when he returned from work. After making herself comfortable, she loaded up an online video site and looked up a variety of "Full Metal Alchemist" videos.

"Let's see...Oh yeah, episode 39!" She exclaimed, typing that episode into the search engine. Leaning back as the episode started, she slid on her headphones and let all thoughts of homework and papers slip away as she concentrated on nothing but the anime in front of her and making sure the pretzels made it into her mouth rather than her fingertips.

Two hours and four episodes later, Jordan stood up and stretched. Nothing like rewatching an anime series for the second time when you don't have it on T.V. anymore. However, watching this had added to her headache of before, making her skull pound.

Just before she turned off the laptop, she received an email. Clicking on the little pop-up message, she got something strange.

"Make a wish!" The email said. The email went on to explain the story of some little girl who made a wish for her family, and it came true. It was supposed to be heartfelt and touching, but with the thousands of grammar errors there were and the terrible wording and format, it just irritated Jordan's eyes.

"Send this email to at least two different friends and make a wish. Within an hour, your wish will come true!"

"Yeah right," Jordan scoffed, smirking at the absurdity of it all. Just to humor the weirdo who made this up, she sent it to two of her old email addresses. "Then I wish I could be a state alchemist in 'FMA'." With that, she turned the laptop off and closed the top.

By the time she was done with her episodes, dinner was ready, so she ate what little she could manage and went to her room, curling up with a book she'd been trying to finish for awhile. Her headache was making her extremely tired, however, and it was all she could do to stay on a single sentence between her random dozings. Each time she fell asleep, no matter how short the interval, she had the strangest images from "Full Metal Alchemist" flash before her eyes.

"That's it, I give up on reading," she said to herself as she woke up once more, dropping the book. As she made herself comfortable to sleep, her headache spiked incredibly, enough to make her feel as if she were going to be violently sick. She bolted up and got to her feet, ready to make headway for the bathroom, when she had the most vivid image of...a gate?

She saw before her two gigantic stone doors, intricately carved with unfamiliar runes. The doors began to open, making not a whisper of sound. Beyond, Jordan could see...eyes. Hundreds of eyes, staring hungrily at her.

Shadowed hands seemed to be reaching toward her from inside the gate. In a state of delirium, Jordan made no resistance as the hands ushered her through the gate, though something in the back of her mind nagged her that this was not good, and the hands should be avoided...

---------------------

"Oh man, weird dream," Jordan groaned, sitting up in her bed.

Except this wasn't her bed.

And this wasn't her room.

"Okay, what happened?" She wondered aloud, going pale and trying to figure out where she was. Looking frantically around, she found she was sitting in a small room, decorated with a plain desk and chair and a drawer other than the bed on which she was currently planted.

A brisk knock came at the door, and a plainly dressed servantwoman came in bearing a broom. "Excuse me miss, are you needing...anything...?" The woman hesitated as she swept her eyes of the girl sitting on the bed.

"Um, no thanks. Is something wrong?" Jordan questioned.

The woman's expression changed from one of surprise to one of anger. "You're a state alchemist?" She demanded.

"I'm a state alchemist?" Jordan repeated, dumbfounded. She stood up and looked down at her clothing. Instead of a pair of sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt, she was wearing a long blue uniform, trimmed in silver. She wore blue pants underneath, and had an extra hair band around her wrist, which could be assumed it was used to put up her hair.

The next thing Jordan knew, she was being punted out into the street, with a gruff man yelling, "We don't serve dogs of the military here!", and slamming the door to her back.

Something shining silver bounced out of her pocket and into the dust next to her head. Standing up and dusting off her clothing and the item, she saw it was a pocketwatch, with a chimera on the top.

A pocket watch of a state alchemist.

"No...No there's no way..." Jordan laughed a little bit. "This is a joke. This is some completely insane joke, right? A dream?" Jordan rolled up the sleeve of her new uniform and pinched her arm several times. Her mirth died quickly when she had gained a stinging welt of burning red on her skin, but her surroundings and everything she held remained exactly as they were.

"There's no way in hell," she muttered. "There's just no way in the nine hells..."

No matter how many times she said this, staring at the pocket watch in her hand, it wasn't doing anything to make the nightmare go away.

_Review pleeeeease!!! Might be a little odd at first, but it'll get better._


	2. Impersonation

_Dum de dum..._

Purple Ghost Sausage: Oops, you're right. At first she didn't send the emails. Made a mistake, I was typing really fast. I fixed it! Now she has sent the emails. Yay! Anyway, here's the more. :3

Dancing Nightmare: You can already tell it's gonna be a good story? That's cool. :3 But I don't remember what episode 39 was about! I just picked a random number between 1 and 51 (the number of episodes)! I love my reviewers though, so I'll get it! Let's see...#research research research# Oh yeah! Found it! It's called "The Secret of Ishbal". It was when Edward found out the truth behind the war in Ishbal and goes out to Liore in disguise. By the way, I highly recommend watching the anime on YouTube, if you haven't. That's what I did!

ShippouSangoffe: You're mean. You brought up the review screen but didn't want to review...Evil friend of mine!

**TZ: #asleep# Zzzz...purple...monkey...**

**Al: What is she talking about?**

**Ed: Shush!**

**TZ: ...Don't...own...FMA...just...self...**

**Ed: #clicks a button on a tape recorder# Ha! I recorded her saying it!**

**Al: Why is this so important to you?**

**Ed: I've heard some other guys saying how hard it is to make her say she doesn't own anything. Planned to make it easier on ourselves.**

**Al: We're not even in the story yet!**

**TZ: Edward, I'll kill you later...#rolls over and pulls the pillow over her head#**

**Al: Are you sure she's still asleep?**

**Ed: I..don't know.**

* * *

"Oh man, I can't believe this, " Jordan moaned as she walked along the dusty street. "I really, really can't believe this. How the hell am I a state alchemist? I don't know that much about alchemy, nowhere near enough to freakin' be a state alchemist!" 

She suddenly became aware of the muttering and curses aimed her way from the townsfolk. Looking around, she saw many of the people casting glares at her. Several were even bold enough to yell things like, "Go home, you military dog!" She slid down as far as she could past the collar of her uniform, trying to escape the looks.

Soon getting extremly tired of being stared at, she slipped into an alley behind a building. She proceeded to unbutton the uniform and wriggle out of it, so she was in the blue, silver trimmed pants and a black T-shirt that was worn underneath. Considerably more comfortable, and hopefully not nearly as noticeable.

Jordan had just succeeded in folding the annoyingly long uniform (it made her feel like she was wearing a dress) and was ready to leave with it tucked neatly under her arm when she heard somebody's footsteps behind her.

"Planning on leaving unnoticed, state alchemist?" A rough voice asked. Jordan froze mid-step at the sound, an all-too-familiar voice. She turned slowly to see a tall, musuclar man in tan clothing, wearing sunglasses, staring down at her. His most noticeable feature was a pale, X-shaped scar across his face, plainly visible against his tanned skin.

'It's Scar,' she thought in horror. "Um, I'm not really a state alchemist," she tried feebily, taking a step back. Unbidden, the chain of her pocketwatch came tumbling from the pocket of her folded uniform, and the weight of the chain pulled the watch itself out. The silvery watch bounced to the ground, jingling to a halt at the man's feet.

He picked it up and took a glance at the top. "Not a state alchemist? I think not." He threw the watch back at her and took a menacing step toward her.

Ashen-faced, Jordan did the only logical thing a thirteen year old girl with no self-defense training or any weapons beside a folded blue uniform and a watch could do.

She bolted past the man before he could make a grab for her and darted down the alleyway, knocking over various crates and boxes as she went. She could hear the thudding footsteps as he went after her, almost as loudly as she could hear her own frantic breathing and her heart pounding in her ears.

--------------------

A man passed by the opening to a back alley. Loud sounds of an obvious scuffle could be heard. Seeing as nobody else seemed to be interested in investigating the matter and because of a certain obligation as a state alchemist, though he was off-duty at the moment, the man ran into the alley as a small shape flickered in front of his vision, then a second, not-so-small shadow followed after the first.

"Anybody, help, please!" A girl pleaded. By the sound of her voice, she wasn't that old. The man quickened his pace. Taking a few different alleyways as he tried to listen for exactly where the pursuit was, he cursed as he was unable to get there as fast as he'd liked.

A long-haired girl in blue pants and a simple black shirt came running down the alley toward him, her face stricken with fear. She almost ran into him as she fled, barely managing to slide around him and continue her flight.

A burly man came out next, obviously the girl's pursuer. Without pausing to think, the man sketched a quick transmutation circle on the back of his hand, clapped both of his hands together, and pressed them against a brick wall. Several tendrils of red brick reached out and pinned Scar to the opposite wall, leaving time for the man to turn back and run after the still-fleeing girl, to make sure she was all right.

When he found her again, he noticed how she looked back behind him, as if checking to see if Scar was still after her. "Did...did you stop that man?" She asked, clutching an odd bundle of blue cloth to her chest. Something flashing caught his eye, and he saw an unguarded pocketwatch of a state alchemist. But this girl couldn't be a state alchemist, she was far too young. The only kid that had gotten to that status was that Edward Elric boy, and face it, though this one was kinda short too, she was no Ed Elric.

"Yeah, he won't be bugging you anymore," he said warily, taking the watch into mind. He realized that the bundle of blue and silver cloth was a uniform and noted that as well.

"Oh, thank you sir!" She cried, dipping into a low bow from her waist. "Honestly, I think you just saved my life."

The man smiled in a friendly manner, though now he was suspicious about this girl. "Don't worry about it. Just be more careful from now on." With that, he walked away.

He believed he had a report for Colonel Mustang.

--------------------

"What is it, Lieutenant Rowe?" Mustang asked irritably. He had paperwork to procrastinate doing.

The man who had saved Jordan stood at a small outside bar, using a public phone. Rowe cast a look at the person running the stand, and he backed away to tend to a customer sitting at a stool a short distance away.

"Sir, have we recruited any new, younger state alchemists?" Lieutenant Rowe asked, feeling a little odd asking this question.

Colonel Mustang raised one eyebrow in irritation at this. "Rowe, you know full well that the only state alchemist we have under twenty is Edward Elric," he said plainly, leaning back in his chair.

"Yes, but I just saw a girl who couldn't be older than thirteen carrying around a uniform and pocketwatch," Rowe said, trying to get his point across.

Mustang snapped his chair back on all four legs, almost (but not quite) startling First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. "Go on," he said.

Rowe sighed inwardly. He'd caught the colonel's attention. "Well, there was a commotion going on the alleyways. I went back and there was a girl being chased by a thug. I stopped the guy, pinned him to a wall.

"Weird thing was, when the girl came back to thank me, I noticed she was holding a folded uniform and a pocketwatch. She didn't try to do any alchemy to save herself, though, and I don't remember ever seeing her before."

The colonel furrowed his brow in thought, then came to a conclusion. "Rowe, are you still in the same town as you saw the girl?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Find her again and bring her back to headquarters for questioning." Satisfied with his command, Mustang hung up the phone, gave an explanation to Riza, and sent her to look through the records for any young girls that were state alchemists. With a doubtful look, Riza complied.

It wasn't likely.

--------------------

Rowe hung up his end of the line, unable to believe the command he'd gotten. Sure, the town was small enough, but it could still be difficult to find a single girl.

"Just a glass of water, for now," a familiar female's said a few feet away from Lieutenant Rowe. He looked over to see Jordan sitting on a stool, fumbling with a few bills and coins from her pocket.

Jordan sorted through the assorted currency, glad that the five dollar bill she'd left in the back pocket of her sweatpants had turned into the native money. However, there were more bills and coins then when she started, leaving her a bit confused.

"Will this cover it?" Jordan asked, handing the man running the stand a bill. He nodded and accepted her money, leaving behind an iced glass of water. She picked it up and took a small sip, then set it down again, apparently in deep thought. Her uniform and pocketwatch were still folded next to her, just in case getting rid of them entirely would be a bad idea.

When Rowe walked up to her, she didn't notice at first. It was when she glanced up from staring at her water (as that had become her focal point while thinking) that she saw him. "Oh hey, it's you. The one who helped me out back there. Didn't expect to see you again so soon," she said cheerily.

"Neither did I," Rowe replied in nowhere near as friendly a tone. "You're coming back with me to headquarters. The colonel wants to ask you a few questions."

Jordan's face fell. "Wait...what?"

"You're coming back with me to headquarters," Rowe repeated, holding up his pocketwatch. "Because you're under arrest."

--------------------

It was a painful silence between the two of them on the way to the state alchemist headquarters. Made even more painful for Jordan because of the bonds that kept her hands behind her back so she couldn't use any alchemy. Not that she could anyway, but it was a safety precaution. Necessary.

She'd never actually ridden a train before. She thought it might be a pleasant experience when she got to go cross-country that way for the first time. However, under arrest, that wasn't particularily possible. With a sigh, she leaned back against her leathery seat, wondering what new surprises were to be brought.

Being led out of the train station by Lieutenant Rowe was a bit of an odd sight. Many people stopped to stare at her all the way from the station to headquarters, wondering why a thirteen year old girl was being led around, hands behind her back, by a state alchemist who was carrying an extra uniform and watch. Head held high, used to queer looks, Jordan simply shrugged it off, sometimes passing a friendly gaze to the people who walked by.

Standing outside the door that led to Colonel Mustang's office, Rowe rapped his knuckles smartly against the wood. Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye opened the door and led the two inside, casting a meaningful look between Jordan and Mustang.

"Lieutenant Rowe, you've returned," Colonel Mustang acknowledged, looking up from his papers. Rowe nodded. "Is this the girl?"

"Yes, sir," Rowe answered.

"Good." Mustang stood up, staring down at Jordan. She met his stare evenly, not backing down.

"So, care to explain why you seem to have been running around with a state alchemist's uniform and watch, little girl?" He inquired almost conversationally.

Unsure how to answer this question, Jordan started with a deep breath. "Well...I'm not particularily sure. I was at home, then I somehow wound up here, and I had the uniform and watch." _Oh man, that was the worst excuse ever,_ she thought afterwards. _Wait, "little" girl?_

Mustang raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Yes, sir."

"And where do you live?"

_Another toughie, _she thought, resisting the urge to grit her teeth. This was going to end badly. "I live in a land called America...If you haven't heard of it, that's because it's...beyond the gate."

"Interesting," Mustang replied skeptically. None of this really fit together. "Rowe, take the bonds off," he ordered.

Rowe did just that, untying the ropes that bound Jordan's hands together. She flexed her fingers experimentally, feeling the freedom that had been denied for the last several hours. She clapped her hands together in front of her, just to move her hands about.

Everybody in the room started, thinking she was about to perform alchemy. Jordan stepped back from the advancing officers.

"Wait wait wait, I'm not doing anything, I swear!" She exclaimed. Unfortunately, she stumbled in the process of stepping back and fell to the floor, her hands splayed out behind her to keep her from taking a hard fall. A blue light surrounded her, and before she knew what happened, her sneakers had been somehow bonded with the carpeted floor. She stared at the sight.

Mustang gave her a long look. "Lieutenant Hawkeye, take her down to the holding cells. It might take awhile to deal with her. Impersonation of a state alchemist is very serious, after all."

Jordan's eyes went wide. "Wait, please! Honestly, I haven't done anything!" When nobody offered her any consolation, she looked mournfully down at her messed-up shoes and pleaded, "Could someone help me out of this?"

Rowe sketched a quick transmutation circle on the ground around her, clapped his hands together, and pressed them against his circle. Another blue light, and her feet were freed from the fuzzy carpet prison. She stood up and was led out of the room by a skeptical Riza Hawkeye, trying to think her way out of this mess.

When it was just Mustang and Rowe left, Mustang glanced at the other man and said, "You're dismissed." With a respectful salute, Rowe turned and left.

All on his lonesome now, Mustang leaned back in his chair again. That girl...unless she had a hidden transmutation circle somewhere on her arm or something, she had just performed alchemy without a circle. Now he didn't particularily want to let another potentially useful alchemist slip from his grasp. But he couldn't just let her go free for impersonating a true state alchemist. He could get in serious trouble for that.

For actually the second time that day, the phone rang. Mustang sat up and thought about what day it was. Oh yes, Edward was due to report in.

This gave him a bit of an idea as he answered the phone.

_#pant pant# Long chapter. Didn't think it'd get this long. XP Review please!_


	3. Playing Teacher

_Yawwwwn...booored..._

Purple Ghost Sausage: Yuppers, Ed and Al are a' comin'. :3 'Tis be a good thing for both me and you.

X.ElementAlchemist.X: Hmm...interesting statement. O.o

Dancing Nightmare: Yup, poor ol' Jordan is in trouble. Just like I usually am on a daily basis. :3 I suppose fate does like to mess with people. Not that I particularly believe in fate either. #shrug# Here's that next chapter you were looking forward to.

**Edward is walking around the general area, mumbling curses under his breath. TZ is looking rather pleased with herself and holding what appears to be a handful of crunched plastic and shiny black film. At this time, Al is not to be seen.**

**TZ: I told you I would kill you later.**

**Ed: Actually, that's just the tape.**

**TZ: Yeah, but I can do more later.**

**Ed: Like what?**

**TZ takes a very large piece of the plastic, now recognized as the crushed tape her confession that she doesn't own FMA was put on, and throws it at Edward as he walks by. It hits him square in the forehead.**

**Ed: Ow! What the hell was that for?**

**TZ: Told you.**

**Ed: By the way, where did Al get to?**

**TZ: #shrugs# I have no idea.**

**Ed: Did you do something to him?!**

**TZ: Whoa, calm down. It's not like I killed him or something...Not that demented.**

**Ed: ...**

* * *

"You want me to _what_? But Colonel, we just got a lead on the Philosopher's Stone! And that train's going to leave any minute!"

"Then I highly suggest you quit complaining about my orders, Full Metal, and get going." Mustang hung up the phone.

Edward Elric, hearing the line go dead, slammed the phone back onto its hook, almost breaking it in the process. He looked around for his brother. "Al, come on, Mustang's given us a sudden change of plans!" He yelled, picking up his bag and running toward a different train than he had originally intended.

The sound of clunking metallic footsteps announced Alphonse's coming before Ed even saw his him. "Brother, where are we going?" Al asked.

"I'll explain in a minute. But right now we have to catch that train!" Indeed, the next train that would take them to headquarters was already beginning to inch forward, and they weren't anywhere near it. They picked up the pace until they were literally running alongside the train, the carriage door just beyond reach. A leap each took them up into the carriage, and they found some empty seats. Al repeated his question once they were made comfortable.

"Apparently, Mustang found some girl carrying around a state alchemist's pocket watch and uniform," Ed replied, leaning back against his seat and looking out the window at the darkening sky. "He arrested her for impersonation of a state alchemist. Weird thing is, she's only about thirteen years old."

Al started. "What? They actually arrested her?"

Ed nodded. "Yep. She claims she's also from someplace called 'America', and won't say where she's really from. Mustang also said it looks like she can do transmutations without a circle."

"But I thought only you and Teacher could transmute without circles!" Alphonse exclaimed.

Edward nodded again. "He wasn't completely sure. He said she might have a circle hidden somewhere on her that he doesn't know about, but he didn't see anything that looked like a circle glowing, so he wants to stick with his theory. But he also said that she claims not to know anything about alchemy." He shrugged. "No idea why the hell he wants me there, but he did say he has something for me to do, so I 'have' to go back to headquarters." Ed sighed and made himself comfortable. The ride was going to be several hours long, and it was getting dark, so he might as well catch some sleep.

--------------------

"There has to be some way out of this," Jordan said calmly to herself. Of the few holding cells there, hers was the only one occupied, and that was only by her, so she was completely alone. "Oh, who am I kidding? I'm totally screwed!" Hands once again bound to prevent her from doing alchemy, though this time in front of her in a plank of wood, she slammed her fists against the cell wall. "Everyone's probably wondering where I am! How am I going to get home? How am I even going to convince the freakin' military to let me go? Plead on a case of insanity?"

She let herself slide to the floor, then eventually onto her back, her legs tucked underneath her and her ponytail fanning out under her head. This was a weirdly comfortable position. The plain gray ceiling was strangely calming, so as she stared at it, her thousand-thought-a-minute mind eventually slowed down enough for her to sort through her thoughts one at a time. She sat up and assumed a meditative position, her hands on her ankles and her eyes closed.

"Okay...so Colonel Mustang did say that I'd only be in here until he thought of something to do with me. That probably means that I won't be in here too long." Jordan talked quietly to herself after a few minutes. "I don't know how everybody is doing back home, if they're worried about me or not. I can't do anything about it, so I should just stop worrying about it and try to figure out how to get home again."

This brought her back to earlier, when she had performed the alchemy that had twisted her sneakers into the carpet. Jordan had, honestly, no idea how she had done that. There hadn't been a transmutation circle on the floor, and she didn't remember putting one on herself.

She stood up and walked over to the small mirror in the cell that hung over a serviceable sink. Leaning on the sink's edge, she stared at her reflection. She couldn't find anything odd, no mini transmutation circles or anything on her skin. The only out-of-place thing she could find was how her cheek-length bangs were scattered over her eyes, so she brushed them back along the sides of the lenses of her glasses.

Feeling a little weird in doing so, she took down the mirror, then used it (somewhat awkwardly, but none the less managed) to inspect the other areas of her body; her back, the backs of her legs. Her search eventually turned up a small circle on her ankle, underneath her sock. It was quickly rubbed off to prevent any other accidents happening.

The smell of food and the sounds of footsteps and jingling keys captured her attention. Jordan hung up the mirror again and looked back toward the barred door of her room as Lieutenant Hawkeye unlocked the door and stepped in, holding a flimsy tray of food, presumably her meal. The door was closed gently as Riza walked over, setting the tray on the cot that served as Jordan's bed.

"So...has Colonel Mustang said anything about what I'm going to do next?" Jordan asked.

Riza shook her head. "No, not yet. At least not to me. It sounds like he does have some sort of plan, though." She dropped her tone of voice. "I am sorry that this is happening. Even if I were in a different position, I wouldn't be able to do anything. It is protocol, after all." Riza straightened up. "I suggest you get some sleep."

Jordan smiled. "Don't worry about it. I'll manage somehow." As the first lieutenant left, Jordan inspected the contents of the meal. The tray held some sort of bread, a steaming bowl of stew, and a spoon. Unable to think of a dignified way to function a spoon with her hands bound as they were, she stuck with tearing the bread into chunks and dipping them into the stew.

"Not much of a way to eat," she said to herself dryly between bites, sitting on the floor.

For the most part satisfied with her dinner, she crawled into the cot, made herself as comfortable as an old cot and wooden-bound hands would allow, and tried to catch some sleep, as Riza had suggested.

Jordan spent the next several hours drifting in and out of sleep, not getting any true rest for a long time. It took awhile before she actually fell into a deep enough sleep to stay asleep for longer than twenty minutes. When she finally did get to sleep, it seemed for far too short a time, though in reality she was able to sleep for a good seven hours before Hawkeye came back for her.

"Colonel Mustang wants to see you now," she said as she came in and removed the plank of wood from around Jordan's hands. As Riza led Jordan out of the cell, the younger girl was careful not to put her hands together again as she flexed them in newfound freedom.

--------------------

_Why have I been dragged here?_ Ed thought in irritation for perhaps the tenth time as he sat in Roy's office, arms and legs crossed. He wisely kept his mouth shut, as saying anything would probably irritate the colonel sitting at his desk.

A brisk knock interrupted any further thoughts. Mustang, thoroughly expecting the visit, simply set aside the pen he'd been using to fill out the near-overdue papers that had lain untouched on his desk for several days.

"Enter," he commanded. The door swung open to reveal Lieutenant Hawkeye and a somewhat short teenage girl with long brown hair tied into a ponytail. Edward raised an eyebrow. So this plain-looking girl was who he'd been taken all the way back to East City for?

Mustang stood up and paced out to the front of his desk. "So, girl, you didn't tell me your name before."

"My name is Jordan, sir," came the almost automated reply. Taking a military class would do that to her.

"Well then, miss Jordan," Mustang said, letting her name roll off his lips as easily as if speaking to an old friend, "I do believe I have thought of a way to, ah, let this little incident slip and pretend it never happened."

Ed raised an eyebrow and sat up, suddenly becoming a bit more interested in the conversation. Mustang cutting a deal?

Jordan was thinking along the same lines, not letting her curiosity and excitement get ahead of her. "May I ask how, sir?"

Colonel Mustang turned back toward his desk. "First, another question for you: How much do you know about alchemy?"

"Very little sir," Jordan answered cautiously, not sure where this was going.

"Did you use a transmutation circle when you did that transmutation yesterday?"

Jordan bit her lip, trying to think of the best way to answer the question. "Yes sir," she replied finally. "I had a circle on my ankle, though I'm not very sure how it got there."

_How could she not know about her own transmutation circles?_ Edward thought skeptically.

Mustang almost smirked. He had his doubts. "Now, onto my proposition that I have for you. There is a way that I can allow you to take the state alchemist's exam, and become a full-fledged state alchemist," he said. He watched as both Edward's and Jordan's eyes widened at what he said. This was an expected reaction.

Jordan almost jumped right then and there and was about to say she'd do it, when she realized something. "Colonel Mustang, how can I take the exam when I don't know very much about alchemy?"

Roy seemed to not hear her question, but went on with what he had to say. "If you pass, you'll become a state alchemist, and we can let this whole little problem slide. However, if you fail," he paused here, "Then I'll have no choice but to follow through on protocol and press the charges for impersonating a state alchemist. This means you could be in prison for, at the very least, three years."

"What?" Both Ed and Jordan exclaimed at the same time. Upon hearing somebody else's voice, Jordan actually noticed that Ed was in the room as well, not just her, the colonel, and Riza.

_Wow, Edward Elric,' she thought. If I weren't in military scale trouble right now, this would probably be pretty cool._ She shook off her thoughts in favor of more urgent ones. "Colonel Mustang, I can't take the exam!" She cried. "I don't know anything about alchemy, and I don't have anybody to teach me!"

"Calm down, both of you," Roy told the two younger people. Ed did take a step back from advancing on the colonel. He knew Mustang could be underhanded and cruel sometimes, but going as far as putting a thirteen year old girl in prison? That was just not right. "It turns out, miss Jordan, that I actually have that problem sorted out for you already."

Jordan's expression of surprise and anger softened. "You...do?" She asked warily.

Mustang turned toward Ed, and with a small little hand gesture toward Jordan, cordially said, "Edward, meet your new student."

"Wait, what!" Ed almost yelled. "You dragged me all the way back to East City just so I could play teacher to some girl I've never even met in my li-"

"That's an order, Full Metal!" Mustang barked, silencing Edward mid-sentence. Jordan just stared at the Flame Alchemist. Being taught by the youngest state alchemist ever was...thoroughly unexpected. "Now, the two of you are dismissed. You have one week. Remember that." With that comment, the two teens were ushered out of the office and into the hallway.

"Well...that was...weird." Jordan stated.

-----

_Just be nice and review please. It's not that hard. You don't need an instruction manual to review (I hope), so I'm not going to make one. Review please! Reviews make everything better..._


	4. First Impressions

_I've still got nothin'..._

Kimiko Sakato: I like your name. It's pwetty. :3 Anyway, glad you like my story so far. Don't worry about flames. Helpful suggestions are nice, if you can think of any though.

Dancing Nightmare: Yuppers, Jordan's getting a lesson (or fifty) from our Elric-san. Anyway, about the circle on her ankle...I meant to explain it last chappie, but my stupid mind forgot to add it. I'll weave it in here...somewhere...hopefully.

Shiriko Matsuhisa: #whistles nonchalantly# Well, never knew anybody could hate Mustang that much. Not that I'm his fan girl, I'm just saying he's not THAT bad...always...okay a lot of the time he is... O.o Anyway, um, glad to know that you like my story.

_**Al has finally reappeared, and refuses to reveal where he went. Now the missing person is TZ, much to the relief of Ed.**_

**Al: Where did that authoress go?**

**Ed: #shrugs# I don't know. I don't particularily care either.**

**TZ: I heard that.**

**Ed: Damn.**

**Al: Where did that come from?**

**Ed: Well, while this might be against my better judgment, I will take this time to say that-**

**TZ: Don't do it, Edward...**

**Ed: Despite what she says...TZ do-**

_**Suddenly, TZ randomly appears from behind a large satin curtain. Why nobody thought to look there is beyond her. She is holding several small tools that look like they would be perfect for taking apart machinery. Upon seeing these implements, Ed begins to inch away slowly...**_

**Ed: The only one TZ owns is Jordan, because that is her...**

**TZ jumps toward Ed, who begins running in exactly the opposite direction, TZ hot on his heels**

**TZ: Get back here so I can dismantle you!**

**Ed: #talking quickly# So-in-other-words-she-doesn't-own-FMA!**

_**Al simply watches as the two disappear from view, shaking his head.**_

* * *

"Okay, well, I think we got off on kind of a weird introduction there," Jordan said, laughing slightly as the two of them walked down the hall to leave the state alchemist headquarters. Ed, who had been staring down at the ground as he went, trying to think, suddenly shot up to look at the girl upon the sound of her voice. Jordan held out her hand by way of greeting, not slowing her pace. "My name's Jordan." 

Ed smiled and grasped her hand in his. Jordan could feel the weight of his automail in the handshake. "I'm Edward Elric," he said in quite the friendly tone despite what he'd just been thrown into a few minutes before. She almost expected him to not particularily be fond of her for Colonel Mustang ordering him to be her tutor.

"Sorry about this whole deal, with Colonel Mustang's orders and all," Jordan said apologetically. "I wasn't trying to get either of us into something like this. In fact, I wasn't trying to do anything at all except get back home, but...I suppose I can't do much about that."

Ed shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I suppose we can blame Mustang for this, not you."

Jordan smirked. "That sounds like a good enough plan." She chuckled. "Anyway, um, where are we headed to?"

Ed thought for a second. "Well, my brother Al's waiting for us outside. Once we pick him up, we'll go out to Risembool. I've got some close family friends there, and I'm about due for a visit anyway."

'Wow, I get to meet the whole crew. Winry, Pinako...' Jordan's thoughts of joy at meeting everybody quickly turned back down. She really hoped she would be able to get the hang of alchemy enough to pass the test in a week. She knew it took a long time to master it, and most people who took the exam trained for weeks, months, often years ahead. One week...hopefully it would be enough.

Outside, Jordan caught sight of what appeared to be a large suit of armor leaning on the wall and looking around at the nearby sights. She immediately recognized him as Al. Perhaps hearing their footsteps clicking on the stone walkway, Al turned back to see them.

"Brother! You're back!" He exclaimed joyfully. Upon catching sight of Jordan, he had to ask, "Brother...who is she?"

Ed smiled wryly. "Remember the girl I told you Mustang dragged me all the way down here to see?" Jordan blushed lightly and looked down. She was shy, after all. She quickly regained her composure.

Once again holding out her hand for a handshake, she said, "Name's Jordan. Seems like I'll be a little tag-along for awhile."

"You will?" Al asked, shaking Jordan's hand briefly.

"Seems that bastard Mustang had it in him to assign me a 'student'," Edward said, obviously not pleased. He shook it off, though. Can't do anything about it. Turning to Jordan, he said, "You should tell us, though. What'd you do to get into such trouble with the military?"

"It's a long story. We have a train to catch? I'll tell you then."

---------------------

Edward repeated his question from twenty minutes ago as they boarded their train and took some empty seats. Jordan propped her elbow on her knee and dropped her chin into a slender palm, as she thought of how to start. She sat up straight again and laced her fingers together behind her head and leaned back in her seat as she began.

"Well, to start off, you know about the Gate of course, right?" Upon the nods from the two brothers, she continued. "Well, beyond the gate is sort of another world. By circumstances I can't quite understand myself, I was taken here from there." As she said this, she tried to think back to what she'd done before coming here. The email came flashing back to her mind. Could that really be the reason she'd come here, sending those two emails on that stupid chain letter?

"Anyway," she went on, "When I passed through the gate, I wound up in a small inn wearing a state alchemist's uniform and pocket watch. They kicked me out, called me a dog of the military, and slammed the door to my back.

Jordan went on to explain the rest of her story, concluding with, "And now I'm here, I guess." She shrugged at the end of her story. Remembering the transmutation circle she'd found on her ankle and suddenly connecting that to the real world, she remembered that in fact, she did know how it had gotten there. She had drawn it on her ankle with a washable marker. Her feeling of incredible stupidity was quickly interrupted.

"There's...another world on the other side of the Gate?" Ed and Al asked, bewildered.

Jordan bit her lip. She forgot they may not know that yet. "Well...something like that. I'm not entirely sure myself. I just remembered seeing the Gate, and seemed to pass through it from where I'm from." She sighed, leaned back again, and reached up toward her neck as if feeling for something. When her fingers closed around nothing but air, she grew a confused expression and patted her hand against her chest and looked down. "Aw man..."

"Something wrong?" Al asked.

The girl shook her head. "Oh, I just had a silver chain with a dragon amulet on it that I really liked, but I seem to have lost it. Guess I've gotten so used to having it that I didn't notice when it fell off, or maybe it disappeared when I came here. Oh well. It's not a huge deal. I've lost worse things to lose than that."

Ed barely heard this exchange. A possible world beyond the Gate? That couldn't really be possible, could it? Ed shook it off. It wasn't his concern right now. Right now, he had to figure out how he was going to teach a girl enough about alchemy to pass the state alchemist's exam in just a week.

He also had to worry about how Winry might react if she saw the disrepair his automail had fallen into since his last visit. It wasn't necessarily bad, but to Winry, it would be. He shrugged. Couldn't do much about that.

A few moments of somewhat awkward silence followed before the blonde decided to break it. "Okay, well, since we probably won't make it to Risembool before evening, we can probably start some really basic things about alchemy," he said, looking up at Jordan. Her attention was caught immediately. "Not too much, since I'll probably need some sort of demonstration for a lot of it, but some."

"M'kay, I'm listening," Jordan said interestedly, pulling her legs up to cross in front of her.

"First off, do you know the first rule of alchemy?" Ed asked.

"Um...the rule of equivalent exchange, right? That something must be given up in order to receive something else?" Jordan guessed. Ed smiled.

"Right! Now, how about...The reason an alchemist has to clap his or her hands together before performing a transmutation?"

"To complete the circuit of alchemic power?"

For the next several hours, the smaller-scale lesson went on in this manner. At first, Ed (and sometimes Al, when he wanted to put in something) would ask basic questions, which Jordan was able to answer with little difficulty. After that, he moved on to trying to explain basic properties of transmutation circles; how the designs on the circles affected the alchemy and the purpose of the transmutation.This was a little more difficult for her to get, and Edward promised he'd be able to go over it better when in a better environment for display.

The train soon screeched to a halt, and the trio found themselves on the outskirts of the boys' hometown, Risembool. They both grinned in anticipation of seeing long-time friends that they hadn't seen in several months.

Several people stopped to pass a friendly greeting to the brothers as they passed, and a good percent of those inquired about the girl with them. When one man teasingly asked if she was Ed's new girlfriend, Jordan cupped her hand around her eyes and stared at the ground, caught somewhere between embarrassment and laughter. Ed was just stuck on the former.

About a half hour of walking, and they were on the end of a path that led up to an oh-so-familiar house for everyone present. A dog began barking loudly, and Den came running out from behind the house, automail paw thumping lightly on the dirt and tail wagging excitedly. He danced around the three, and the two boys paused for a moment to give the dog a pat on the head. Den growled at Jordan, but immediately stopped when she waited an extra few seconds to scratch behind his ears.

Hearing Den bark, somebody swung the door open, and it was revealed to be a short, elderly woman with her graying hair tied into a bun and a pipe between her lips. She smiled slightly, though hid it well, when she recognized the two young men walking down the path. "Winry, it appears we have some visitors tonight," she said, turning back to a girl in the rooms beyond.

The long-haired blonde girl came bolting downstairs, wrench in hand. When she caught sight of Ed and Al, she gasped and waved. Jordan went unnoticed for the time being, accidentally hidden behind Ed and Al.

"It's about time the two of you came back!" Winry squealed, then took a closer look at Ed. He had taken off his long red coat on the walk to the house, and his automail arm was clearly visible. There were a few parts that needed tuning and were a bit broken down. Her look of excitement quickly changed to one of blatant anger.

"What have you been doing this time!" She demanded, gesturing wildly at the automail. She cocked her arm back to throw her wrench at the offending young man. Having predicted that this would happen, Ed was able to duck under the flying tool just in time. Not having predicted that this would happen, Jordan caught the full force of it to the head, and fell back to the ground.

An icepack and a few thousand apologies later, the entire group was sitting around the table in the kitchen. Winrey was fuming because Ed wouldn't let her repair his automail until tomorrow, Den wouldn't leave Jordan alone now, who was having very mild difficulty holding an icepack to her temple and petting the dog and was grinning despite her injury, and Al and Pinako were being rather quiet.

"So Edward, who is this you have with you?" Pinako eventually asked.

"My name's Jordan," she said for maybe the hundredth time that day.

"Pinako," the woman said, and a quick handshake was exchanged. Jordan offered her hand to Winry, and the other girl was a little doubtful.

"Winry," she soon said, taking Jordan's hand in hers. "And again, I really am sorry that happened, I didn't mean to hit you-"

"Winry, it's okay," Jordan reassured her. Again. "I've been hit by harder objects and in more painful places. Trust me, I was about due for a new bruise or scratch anyway." She laughed. "I very rarely live a day without an injury of some sort."

'Looks like it won't be a problem with them getting along,' Ed thought to himself. "Anyway, um, I hope you don't mind if she stays with us for about a week," he said weakly.

"Why?" Came the expected question from both Pinako and Winry.

Jordan wrung her hands lightly, a habit she preferred to cracking her knuckles while other people were around. Ed once again explained her story, why Colonel Mustang had assigned him as her tutor, and his little 'deal' he had made. By the time he was finished, the two women were, to say the least, rather shocked. They knew the military to be underhanded, despicable, that sort of thing, but this...?

"Well...of course you can stay," Pinako finally said to Jordan's worried look. The younger girl sighed in relief. Guest rooms were made up, a late supper was had, and most everyone tottered off to bed, with the exception of Winry because she wanted to stay up to work on a new automail design. Jordan stared at the ceiling for the better part of an hour, wondering what the next day was to bring.

-----

_It took waaay too much research to find out exactly how to spell Risembool. Be grateful and review. :P_


	5. Suspicion

_It's Winter Break! No school until January 2nd! Yaaay!_

_Ahem._

Wandering Hitokiri: Good. It's funny. That's kinda what I was going for. Updating imminent.

Shiriko Matsuhisa: Yeah, I don't play dodgeball a lot. I have good reflexes, so if I can predict something like that will happen, I can dodge pretty easy. But if I'm hiding like two inches behind someone and the guy in front of me dodges the projectile...I probably won't. Owie. Yes, Mustang sucks. I just finished reading several EdxRoy fics (because I didn't know that's what they were!) so I'll agree with that.

Dancing Nightmare: Yeah, I know, that last chapter was a tad boring. Can't do much with action at the present time though, so it might be a little...unactiony?...for a couple of chapters. Wait 'til the alchemy exam though, I have something good planned for that. :3 Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha...ha...

**TZ: #upside down on a couch holding the book 'Eragon'# No. Go away.**

**Ed: It's time for you to do the disclaimer.**

**TZ: No. Go away.**

**Al: You have to admit that you don't own FMA in any way, shape or form.**

**Ed: And that you only own your character.**

**TZ: No. Go away.**

_**Ed and Al refuse to move from their spots for several minutes, which TZ can only ignore for so long.**_

**TZ: Fine. I own nothing and nobody but Jordan, because she's me. Now go away before I proceed to beat you over the heads with my book.**

* * *

Jordan woke up earlier than everybody else, judging by the lack of sound coming from the rest of the house. She stared at the wall opposite the bed for roughly half an hour, trying to get back to sleep. Unable to do so, she finally sat up and moved over to sit on a small wooden stool in front of a desk. A small stack of paper and a couple of pens laid there. She took up a pen and shifted a piece of the paper to an angle for writing, then stopped and glanced at a simple clock up on the wall. 6:45. It could be expected that others would start to wake up soon. 

Wanting to be mildly presentable when she went downstairs, Jordan pulled her scrunchie from her slightly snarled hair, ran her fingers through it so it wouldn't be as wild as it usually was in the mornings, then tied it back again. She smoothed the wrinkles from her clothing (she really would have to earn a bit more money and get a new shirt, at the very least) as best she could, then deeming herself the best she was going to become without a proper hairbrush or at the very least a shower, she sat back down on the stool and picked up the pen again.

Having been able to think of little else that morning, Jordan began scribbling down notes on the alchemy lessons she'd received from Ed the day before. Just in case, though she knew them by heart, she jotted the reason for an alchemist clapping his or her hands together and the rule of equivalent exchange, before she moved on to the transmutation circle notes.

Simplifying the lesson into notes took her about half an hour. She started trying to draw a few circles based on the notes when she heard some clattering sounds on the floor below. Putting that off for about ten minutes longer while she continued her circles, a delicious smell wafted up to her from downstairs, and she decided that someone was up and cooking. She wasn't particularly hungry, but she vowed that she would go down to eat something...after she finished this circle and two more.

That accomplished about five minutes later, Jordan dropped the pen, arranged the papers neatly so the clean sheets were separated from the three or four pages of notes and circles, made the bed, then carefully made her way down the stairs. She was greeted by the sight of Winry and Pinako in the kitchen. Winry was putting down several plates of food on the table, where Pinako was already sitting with her pipe in one hand and what looked like a newspaper in the other. Ed and Al weren't anywhere to be seen.

"Mornin'," Jordan said by way of greeting. The two others looked up, said their own "good mornings", Winry handed her a plate as she moved to sit down.

"So, did ya sleep alright last night?" Winry asked pleasantly as Jordan helped herself to some toast and bacon.

"Yeah, better than that cot I got the night before last," Jordan replied, smirking. Still seeing no sign that the brothers were around, she asked, "Where did Al and Ed get to?"

Winry shrugged. "Edward said that he needed to go town for some books, I think, and that he'll be back later in the afternoon. I don't know where Alphonse went, but he said he'd be back later, too." Winry's face set into an expression of annoyance. "Ed decided to leave again before I could fix up his automail today, though."

"Guess I'll have the day to myself then," Jordan said mildly.

Once finished with her meal, and assured that she could freshen up with a shower if she wanted to, Jordan felt that would be a good idea. It'd been a couple of days. Winry was even able to give her some older clothes that no longer fit her, but were still in good condition. Ushering herself off with a towel over her shoulder and a pair of light-colored pants and a t-shirt folded under her arm, she slipped into the bathroom and locked the door behind her.

As the water pounded against her shoulders and forced her hair into a straight cascade down her back, Jordan yet again reviewed what she'd already learned about alchemy so far. As she thought about the purpose for a certain design in a transmutation circle, she laughed. "I have never been this nervous about any test before," she said to herself. "Hell, I've never even worried about studying for any test before. It feels so weird that this one should be so different. But...there is a good reason, I suppose."

Unsure of what to do with herself for the rest of the day, since apparently her true lessons wouldn't start until at least that afternoon, Jordan quickly wrapped up her shower, dressed, then slipped back to the guest bedroom she resided in. She found a wooden-backed hairbrush sitting to the side of the paper and pens she'd been using earlier, and berated herself for not seeing it. Roughly ten minutes passed as she forced the hairbrush through the multitude of knots and tangles that filled her hair, then brushed it back sternly into a strict ponytail almost right at her neck. Afterwards she pulled on her shoes and socks and went carefully downstairs and out the front door, saying she'd return in a few hours.

Jordan didn't do much after she left, more or less just moseyed around the town, drinking in all the sights and small wonders the rural Risembool had to offer. She'd lived in a country area all her life, but there was something about being in a small town like this instead of living on the outskirts of a busy city.

After several hours of sightseeing and receiving greetings from just about every man, woman, and child that happened to be outdoors, Jordan stopped on a small hill that overlooked a winding river about twenty feet away from her. The noonday sun sparkled off the crystal clear waters, making the surface into a myriad of colors. The wind blew gently and whipped her bangs into her eyes, obscuring her view slightly as she peered across to the river's other bank. There wasn't much else to see there than on her side; same scenery, same people she just saw within the last few hours. The sight of the river was strangly calming. As Jordan took a step down the hill to stand by the water's edge, a twig snapped somewhere behind her. Curious and reflexive as she was, she turned to see a young man who couldn't be older than sixteen approaching her.

"Well hello there! I don't remember seeing you around Risembool before. Are you new to this little town?" He asked. The plain working clothes and weather-hardened features belied his friendly nature and welcoming smile. Jordan glimpsed a ponytail of the man's black hair at the nape of his neck and found it oddly interesting.

"Um, I guess you could say that I am. I've never really gotten the chance to stay in Risembool before, but I've been around a few times," Jordan replied warily, though she couldn't help cracking a grin herself. "My name's Jordan, how about you?" She added, holding out her hand in greeting.

The man took her hand up in his in a firm handshake. By the way he gripped her hand tightly in his, she could tell he was trying to overpower her, show his strength. Not backing down herself, it was about a minute before the two separated.

"Wow, you've got yerself an arm there," the man said. "But I must apologize; I go by Envin. If you'd like, I could show you around, if you haven't really been here before."

Jordan shook her head. "No, that's all right. I've already given myself the grand tour. I'll be around here for about a week."

"Oh really? Where are you staying at?" Envin inquired.

Becoming a bit suspicious as to why this guy wanted to know so much, Jordan said, "I'm staying with the Rockbells. They own that great little automail shop."

"Oh. Well that's alright then," Envin said cheerily. "Anyway, I must get back to the fields. There's work to be done, after all! I do hope to see you around again sometime!" Envin waved as he walked away, and Jordan passed a small wave back. Something about the man did not settle very well with her...

--------------------

Envin walked to a secluded field that none of the residents of Risembool used anymore. In the back of this field, among the dying grass and leaves of old crops long gone, stood two figures. One was a tall, willowy woman with lustrous black hair and a clinging forest green dress. The other was a short, piggish man with greedy little eyes.

"It turns out that little girl may just be getting in our way after all, Lust," Envin said silkily as he pushed his way through neck-high weeds. "We may just have to deal with her after all."

The woman (or rather, homonculus) called Lust smirked slightly at this statement. "Well, I suppose we will have to remove her from our path, now won't we?"

In a quick flash of light, the next homonculus, Envy, stood in the place of Envin. Nothing more could be said, he simply chuckled.

"Oh Lust, may I eat the girl?" Gluttony pleaded, already beginning to drool.

"You just might get to, Gluttony," Lust said, the words promising murder slipping past her lips as easily as if she were making a comment on the weather.

--------------------

Jordan looked up at a second hill a short distance away from the river. A single tree stood at its top, and what looked like a gray stone was next to it. For some reason, it looked rather familiar. Wanting to investigate further, she began to make her way over.

As she followed alongside the river, she was able to get a better view of this hill. She was about to start up it when she saw somebody else make the short climb up to the top. Stopping, she saw it was Edward. He carried three or four books tucked under his left arm and a single flower, appearing to be a rose, in his right hand. She ducked down behind some scrubby bushes to see what was going on, fervently hoping that she wouldn't be noticed.

As she watched silently from her hiding spot, she saw Ed kneel down in front of the gray stone by the tree. He said a few words that she couldn't make out from her position, then gently placed the rose on the ground, stood up, and turned to leave. Once Ed was safely out of sight, Jordan crept up the hill to see what had been done. She almost instantly regretted it.

There where that gray stone stood was the rose, left by Ed. On the stone read clearly the name "Trisha Elric".

She had just watched Ed during what was one of his most private moments, and now felt extremely guilty for having done so.

Jordan stood there silently, her hands in her pockets, and just stared down at the tombstone, the last marker to prove that the loving mother of the two brothers had ever lived. Yes, she had known about this all along; that happens when you watch the series twice. Seeing it firsthand...that was entirely different.

"I guess we never did tell you, did we?" A voice suddenly asked. Surprised, having thought she was the only one there, Jordan whipped around to see Al, and wondered just how long he'd been standing there. Even though his tone of voice wasn't angry, the armor body made her feel intimidated, and she also found herself wondering if Al knew she'd seen Ed up here shortly before.

"You don't have to say anything," Jordan said after a moment, gazing at the grass under her shoes. "I already know what happened." As an afterthought, she added, "Winry told me about it."

"It's fine," Al assured her, though there was a note of sadness in his words. "You were bound to find out soon. Anyway, Brother sent me to find you. He's back, and he wants to get started with your lessons."

Despite what had happened, and the strange feeling she still had after talking to that Envin guy, she couldn't suppress excitement at the idea of her lessons finally going underway.

-----

_Wow. Did almost all this in one sitting. That rarely happens. Apparently I do my best writing late at night (seeing as it's 12:32 right now). Anyway, review please!_


	6. A Trick or Two

_-insert something here because the authoress is too lazy-_

Taisa's Fire Angel07: Yay, glad you like it. Please stick around, I always enjoy having new minio- er, #cough# story followers.

Dancing Nightmare: Nope, not really a sixth sense. I rather purposefully made the name Envin sound like Envy. I wanted it to be rather easily figured out beforehand. If I wanted to, I could have used a bunch of different names for Envy, like Markin, Solem, Carin, or Evnen, to name a few. So no sixth sense for you. Yeah, it was sad that Ed put the rose on Trisha's grave. That was rather the point. I'd have felt guilty too if I'd watched something like that.

Shiriko Matsuhisa: Okay, so um...palm tree fag? e.e' Edward's right, you aren't human. Run Elric-san, run! O.O

Wandering Hitokiri: I have never heard Envy referred to as a palm tree. Unfortunately, I can't kill him. That's his own job at the end of the series. I'll deal with Envy later, don't you worry. :3

* * *

"Ow! Knock it off, would you? You'll be as bad as Izumi if you keep it up!" 

"Well, quit beating me over the head with the book and I won't have to retaliate!"

"Well!..Um..."

"Seems you've run out of excuses. Either way, your pain is pretty much your own fault." Jordan smirked and held up a thick volume, simply entitled "Basic Alchemy", one of the books Ed had brought back the other day, which was being used in quite a different manner than learning of the science. Over the past few days of lessons, Jordan and Edward had struck up quite a friendship that went beyond the simple bond of student and teacher. The results became mock fights like this one, usually starting with Edward jokingly hitting Jordan upside the head with one of the books if she made a slight mistake in an alchemical formula or note. Naturally, she'd snatch the book away and give him a taste of his own medicine.

Ed found it was rather easy to get along with this girl and tutor her in the lessons. Despite her rather outgoing demeanor, she was very serious in her studies and worked furiously. Ed found that she also understood the subject better than had been expected. She had few questions, and they were always reasonable.

"I didn't seriously hit you that hard, did I?" Jordan asked, setting the book down on the grass. They had taken the class outdoors, doing more hands-on field work then book work now.

"Nah, I'm fine," Ed assured her, though he did rub the side of his head where he'd been struck by the book. He picked up a different one and flipped through the pages, looking for inspiration for another lesson. "You do hit hard, though."

"Sorry." Jordan sat on the grass and traced a finger absently over the transmutation circle on the back of her left hand. She'd gotten tired of drawing so many circles for the different transmutaions, so she'd drawn an all-purpose one on her hand in washable ink. It could be easily taken off before she went to bed.

There were two days left until the exam; today and tomorrow. The day after the next would be her exam day. Ed had been helping her plan ideas for her field test. She'd rejected all help on that, saying she had her idea set and didn't want to change it last-minute.

Ed leafed through the pages of the book, unable to really find anything more. Jordan was a natural at alchemy, and he couldn't find anything that he hadn't already touched down on. Al came out of the house to see how the two of them were doing.

"Fine," Ed replied, not looking up. "Can't find much more, though. I know there's something else, but I can't place it..." Edward shrugged. "She's pretty good at all this." Jordan grinned.

Waiting for her next instruction, and wanting to do something besides repeatedly trace her circle, Jordan's thoughts strayed back to the necklace she'd lost before. It was her favorite one, and she was still a tad miffed that she'd lost it so easily. Staring at her transmutation circle, she got an idea. Making sure the ink wasn't smudged or worn, she clapped her hands together and pressed them to the ground.

Hearing the sound of her clap and seeing the familiar blue glow from the corner of his eye, Edward looked up from his book to see what Jordan was transmuting. Al watched with interest. In the midst of the light, Jordan had something looped around her finger and was pulling it steadily up. Once the light dissipated, signaling the end of her transmutation, a silver chain with an inch-wide pendant swung fron her hand.

"Not too bad, if I do say so myself," Jordan said, leaning in to inspect her handiwork. "Particularly since I was going on the assumption that there were metals in the ground for me to use." The pendant took the form of a dragon, curled up in the fashion of the chimera on a state alchemist's pocketwatch, wings outstretched. There was a transmutation circle set behind it for a background. For something so simple, the detail was impressive. One could see the individual scales on the dragon's hide, as well as the detail in the eye.

"Wow, nice job," Ed commented.

"Is that like the one you lost before?" Al asked curiously.

Jordan smiled and shook her head as she clasped the necklace behind her head.. "Nah...my old one wasn't as good." To Edward she said, "And I learned from the best. It'd better be a good job."

--------------------

"Ready to get going?"

"I'm comin', I'm comin'!" Jordan bolted down the stairs, holding onto a small travel bag and blowing on the ink on her hand to make the circle dry faster. This was the last day before the exam, so they were leaving this morning to travel out to East City so they wouldn't have to make the trip and get there right before the test. There, they would take a couple of rooms at one of the inns and be ready for the next day. Having gotten a chance to wash her small wardrobe between lessons at some point, she was now instead wearing the original black t-shirt and silver-lined blue pants. 'Kinda ironic I'm wearing the uniform before I even take the exam,' she thought to herself.

When she skipped the last three steps and hit the floor with a resounding thud, Ed and Al were nowhere to be seen. Jordan looked around to see where they went, but no sign of them lingered.

"I think they already left," Winry said from behind her. Jordan almost jumped, then sighed when she realized who had said that. There stood Winry, and Pinako as well. "They shouldn't have really gone far, though." Winry smiled and added, "Good luck on your state exam."

"I'm sure you'll do just fine," Pinako said.

Jordan couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks. I'll see you when we get back, alright?" She knew that Winry and Pinako really didn't approve of the military, so it meant a lot that they actually cared enough to say that. Maybe nobody would admit it, but they'd all really grown on each other.

Waving as she walked out the door, Jordan left, running down the path to seek the boys. Despite her anger that they had left her behind, she couldn't help feel a thrill at the idea of traveling out to East City at long last for her exam. So, it was tomorrow. But it was less than twenty-four hours away.

Her feet pounded against the hard dirt path, her heart raced. Even with her excitement, there was nervousness, anxiety, about taking the exam and its outcome. As she sprinted along the path, her bag occasionally thumping painfully against her leg, she seemed to forget all of her stress. Nothing like a good run to help her forget, even if she was running after a couple of boneheads who hadn't been kind enough to wait an extra thirty seconds.

At one point she was running straight alongside the river, the embankment putting her at an elevation about ten feet higher than the river's edge, and she saw two dark silhouettes out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head, her attention caught, and saw the two brothers she'd been chasing after standing at the river's edge twenty feet away. So surprised was she (or maybe it was that pesky hole in the road) that she tripped and fell flat on her face with a strangled gasp. Her bag flew from her hand and skittered to a halt at the bottom of the hill.

Hearing the thud of both the bag tumbling down the hill (the fact it had the four alchemy books in it helped) and of Jordan falling on her front caused both Ed and Al to whirl around. It was a strange sight indeed to see a thirteen year old girl lying face-down in the dirt.

Jordan sat up carefully. She showed no sign of being in pain, but just laughed, even as she saw Ed and Al chuckling down by the river. Dusting herself off, she slid down the hill (this time keeping her balance easily) and picked up the travel bag.

"Brilliant move," Ed complimented her as she straightened.

"I've done better. I'd only call that about a six out of ten," Jordan said, making it sound like no big deal. "Shouldn't we be going?"

"Eh, we've got time," Edward said, dismissing it with a wave of his hand. "Wanted to do one last test before we left."

Jordan raised an eyebrow and noted how Alphonse stepped back several feet. "What would that be?"

Ed smirked. "Think fast." Before Jordan could even begin to react, he clapped his hands together and pressed them to the grassy ground. An enormous earthen hand shot up from the ground and darted for Jordan. She just barely got out of the way, and despite her surprise, she was grinning. She'd been waiting for a challenge, and had an idea. She would save that for later, but she had a different plan for now.

"Nice surprise!" She called. "But nice try." In one fluid movement, she splashed up a small wave of water from the river, clapped her hands together, passed her hands through the water as it fell as a sheet onto the grass, and used alchemy to freeze the water into a solid layer of ice just as Ed began to run toward her. As soon as he set foot on it, he did slip, and teeter dangerously off-balance. Jordan took this moment to back up further, planning her next moves.

To her dismay, the ice didn't work as well as she'd planned. Almost as quickly as he'd lost his balance, Ed regained it again, a sort of determined, yet entertained grimace set on his features.

"You've got a few nice tricks of your own," he said, rushing toward her. Instead of performing more alchemy, he instead brought up his hands and threw a blow aimed to clip Jordan's shoulder. She ducked under it well enough, but he was right on her again, a kick trying to sweep her from her feet.

"I thought this was an alchemy test?" She asked as she blocked off several blows, thoroughly on the defensive. Her hair whipped around with her fast-paced movements, and she cursed that she didn't take the time to braid it before leaving. She was trying to think of what to do next; she wasn't very good with hand-to-hand combat, and she had no idea when and if Edward was going to try more alchemy any time soon.

"Nobody said that," Ed contradicted her, not relenting. "Besides, you can't always rely on alchemy for everything. Just most."

Jordan's response was a sharp intake of air as a blow hit her wrist when she tried to hold her hand up to block. That was going to bruise. She could take heavier than that...and she would have to, if she was going to put her plan for victory into play.

She let this continue on for a few more minutes, though she was hardly able to keep up the facade. In order to keep Edward busy and keep him from trying to pull off any alchemy, she often made a feeble attempt at a hit herself. Soon she grew tired of this. She quickly clapped her hands together, and, ducking under a high hit as an excuse, knelt to the ground and barely hit her hands against the earth. A wall rose from the ground and threw Ed back a safe enough distance. Now they'd have to resort to alchemy again, and that's the way both of them liked it.

It was a short fight from here on, a battle of the alchemists. Alphonse watched with increasing awe as stone was misplaced, blows were taken (though none too hard, it wasn't made to be violent), a commotion was stirred. Yet, strangely enough, it seemed not a person noticed what took place down by the river.

Jordan soon took one particularly nasty hit to the stomach from a tendril of earth, thanks to Edward. She reeled back and fell to her hands and knees, bowing her head and clutching her stomach with one arm, the other keeping her up from falling on the ground. Her shoulders began to shake hard. From both the brothers' point of view, she was in some serious pain.

Ed and Al ran up to her, asking if she was actually hurt, if she would be alright. Edward really hadn't tried to hurt her at all. The girl didn't say anything, just continued.

'Wait a minute,' Ed thought suspiciously. 'It doesn't look like she's crying...it looks like she's-'

"Gotcha." Jordan's smile seemed to be one of pure evil as her head shot up, and she grabbed Ed's wrist, twisted his arm (though not painfully, just enough to give her an edge), and pushed him back. His surprise and her leverage were enough to send him sprawling the ground on his back. A flash of blue light and he found that he couldn't move his hands, nor his feet. Bindings of earth roped over his wrists and ankles and bound him to the ground!

Jordan stood up all the way, and put one foot on Ed's chest. Not that he wasn't already pinned as it was. "Hey. How ya' doin?'" She asked, giving him a two-fingered salute in mock greeting.

Ed stared up at her, impressed. Al simply laughed, then Jordan joined in, then finally Edward.

"That was a pretty impressive job there," Al complimented as Jordan knelt down and undid the binds on Ed. He jumped to his feet and dusted himself off.

'Envin' watched this with more than just a passing interest.

_----- _

_Yay me. I guess. I dunno. And I was right, I do get my best writing done late (currently 12:14 AM). Review for me please! Press the button! You know you want to..._


	7. Out of the Way

_Okay, everybody wants to kill Envy. So do I. But maybe we should refrain from that..._

Taisa's Fire Angel07: Glad you like my chapter. Most certainly shall continue.

Shiriko Matsuhisa: Swapfist sounds both fun and painful. Ouchies. Anyway, no getting dizzy from circles. Also, no killing Envy. Most unfortunately, he has to be alive for my fan fic.

Envy: Hey!

Me: Loser.

Dancing Nightmare: Yep, getting more actiony and less...unactiony. Yup. I've had that trick played on me many a time, so I thought it would be a good idea for the chapter. I wondered how many people would figure out it was a trick beforehand. Congratulations! Nope, no prize. And, sorry to burst your bubble, but this chapter isn't the exam. Next one is, though, I promise.

Wandering Hitokiri: Envin should most certainly do that. Get him out of the dumpster. If he dies of asphyxiation, I won't be able to use him for my fic.

**TZ: I'm spiraling into a despairing wormhole of depression...**

**Ed: Reason being?**

**Al: There are a lot of things that she doesn't own.**

**Ed: FMA included?**

**TZ: Most unfortunately, yes. ;.;**

* * *

Edward regarded Jordan curiously as she leaned back quite comfortable against the leather seat of the train carriage, legs tucked to her side and her nose buried in one of the alchemy books she'd brought, simply entitled "Common Alchemic Theories and Legends". The girl seemed completely engrossed in the tome, the only sign she was aware of anything but the printed scientific material being her fiddling with her dragon necklace; twisting the chain around her hand up to her wrist or simply rubbing her fingers against the outstretched wings of the sculptured mythical beast. Ed had never seen somebody so interested in books of any kind (other then Sheska, but that woman was a different story entirely). 

"If you have something to say to me, Edward, just say it. I'm sure I'm not so dashingly attractive that you must continue to stare at me otherwise." Though most of her face was hidden behind her book, it was painfully obvious of her victorious smirk. Alphonse chuckled, and Ed flushed and stared out the window.

"Why Edward, I don't believe I've ever seen you blush before," Jordan further teased, still not even glancing up from her book. Ed sunk down in his seat as Al laughed a little harder, turning an even deeper shade of red.

"She's really got a point, Brother," Al pointed out, still snickering.

"Yeah yeah, could we drop it?"

"All right, I'm finished," Jordan said, smiling. As she lifted the edge of her page to move on, a sudden jolt of the train on a jag in the tracks caused her to pull unexpectedly on the paper, tearing a huge rip that led about three-fourths of the way up the page. She swore loudly.

Ed raised an eyebrow. "Hey, I paid for those, ya know!"

"An accident, buddy," Jordan said calmly. She reached for her bag and shuffled through it with one hand, holding the book open to the ruined page with the other. Somewhere underneath the other three books, assorted papers, and the one shirt and pair of pants she'd packed, she managed to find a pen. She quickly went over the circle on the back of her left hand (it had begun to wear off drastically after her 'fight' with Ed), then stuck the pen behind her ear and clapped her hands together, pressing her right to the page. The jagged edges flowed together smoothly, the strands of paper weaving together and reconnecting as if there had never been a single disturbance to the fibers. "And to tell you the truth, its these books that taught me how to fix that, so I think you shouldn't have to worry."

Ed noted how her travel bag was overflowing with books and notes. "Any particular reason you dragged all that with you?" He asked.

Jordan's response came in the form of a shrug. "I want to keep studying for the exam. You know there's more to the need of my success than wanting to be part of the military. And trust me, I don't even want to be part of the military."

The rest of the few hours on the train was spent joking around, all in good fun. When the train came to a screeching halt at the East City Station in the mid-afternoon, the group fought their way through the crowd with their luggage and into the city itself.

Having been under arrest and being led around by a military officer before, Jordan hadn't noticed much of the city. She had been too busy trying to figure a way out of her predicament. However, now that she was free, she marveled at all the sights and sounds. No, she wasn't particularly fond of the idea of ever living in the city. It was too busy, and by far too crowded for her liking. But an occasional trip wasn't bad, now was it?

Knowing their way around fairly well, Ed and Al led the way to a small but serviceable inn. They swiftly paid for their rooms (Ed and Al in one, Jordan in the other), took their bags back, then split up into the city, all promising to return by evening. Jordan dug what was left of her money out of her bag and slipped it into her pocket, then took up her alchemy theories book and left, being the last one of the trio to leave the inn.

She didn't do much for the better part of an hour, simply walked around the city with her book under her arm and enjoyed looking at the different wares through the store windows. When she kept lingering to examine the items in the windows of automail shops, she wondered if maybe her week around Winry had been too long.

Jingling the coins in her pocket, Jordan passed by a small outdoor juice bar. Thinking wistfully that something to drink would be an excellent idea, she turned back and pulled up a stool.

"Well hello there, little missy," the man running the bar called cheefully, walking up to her. His black hair was brushed neatly back, though his apron and clothing couldn't be called perfectly spotless. He threw a rag he'd been using to clean a glass onto his shoulder, and there it stayed. "Can I help ya?"

Jordan scanned a small paper menu that lay flat and worn next to her elbow. As something caught her eye, she carefully pulled a few coins from her pocket and told the man what she wanted, handing him the money. He turned his back to her to prepare her drink. As he did this, Jordan glanced around the area. It never ceased to amaze her that any single place could be so busy. One of the reasons she hated living in the city. She cracked open her book on the counter, flipped through a few pages to where she left off, and began reading again.

The barkeep set down a glass of orange-yellow juice next to her arm. Hearing the click of glass on wood, she absently picked it up and brought to the straw to her mouth.

"Aren't you a little young to be wandering around such a large city by yourself, young'un?" The man asked, leaning on one arm on the counter. Jordan unintentionally put a crinkle in her page as she gripped the paper tighter than she meant at this question, and bit down on her straw.

"I'm thirteen. Plenty of people wander around a city like this at thirteen."

"Oh, I'm quite sorry," the man apologized. "It's just that, well, you seemed rather short for your age-"

"Yeah. I know." Jordan interrupted dryly. "I'm short and I know it." In fact, she remembered how several of her anime-crazed friends at home would call her Edward Elric from time to time for that reason. Seemed awfully...strange now, for that.

She shifted uncomfortably for a minute, then reached back and unclasped her necklace. The chain was rubbing against her neck uncomfortably in the heat. She dropped it carelessly on the counter and went back to her book. The sparkling silver pendant caught the barkeep's attention.

"Hey, where did you get a necklace like that?" He asked.

"Made it myself," Jordan responded, only taking a second to glance at the pendant. Her irritation was rising. She was not, how you say, a 'people person'.

"Really? Any way I could convince you to make me something like this?" The man asked. "With pay, of course."

"Well, actually-" A sound of shattering glass interrupted Jordan mid-sentence. Another customer had dropped her glass on the ground, where it had immediately broken into dozens of pieces. The barkeep looked at the glass in dismay, as did the woman who'd dropped the glass.

"Oh, don't worry, I've got it," Jordan said cheerily. She hopped down from her stool (as it was a couple inches to the ground for her) and produced a stick of chalk from her other pocket (a suggestion from Edward that she had taken to heart). She scowled when she realized it had broken into several pieces, but otherwise went about business as she drew a transmutation circle around the broken glass, double-checked to make sure all the pieces were together, clapped her hands together, and pressed them to her circle's edge. A flash of blue light and there stood a perfectly mended glass. She picked it up, dusted it off lightly on the hem of her shirt, then handed it back to the barkeep. "Here ya go."

"Wow, thanks," the barkeep said, mildly impressed as he put the glass away. "Is that how you made your necklace?"

"Yeah, it is. Alchemy works wonders."

"Well, my offer still stands either way." The man pulled a bill from his pocket. Jordan had learned enough about the native currency to figure that it was about the equivalent of an American ten-dollar bill. "I'll still gladly pay you for something like that, miss, ah..?"

"Jordan. And you?" Faced with the offer of being paid a sum like that, Jordan had no real reason to refuse. She nodded, eyebrows raised in surprise and impression.

"Marik," the man replied. She dropped to the ground again, though this time with an audience of about half a dozen people, and clapped her hands together. She was just about to perform the transmutation when the man stopped her. "Wait! Perhaps you could make a different creature...a dog, perhaps?"

"Sure. A dog." With the desire for a more epic-looking beast, she fixed the image of a wolf firmly in her mind. She pressed her hands to the ground, making the circle on the back of her hand glow again, as usual. She pulled up another silver chain, though it had thicker, wider links for a men's fashion. A wolf with a crescent moon behind it dangled from the silver line. "Here ya go, Marik," She said, holding up the pendant. The necklace and payment exchanged hands, and Jordan picked up her book and put her own necklace back on, plenty ready to leave.

Unfortunately, a couple other patrons of the bar decided they wouldn't allow her to leave without requests of their own. Few of these people had seen alchemy used for crafting purposes such as hers, and wanted to take advantage while they could. Three more people asked her for a pendant and offered to pay.

Naturally, she didn't refuse.

Soon finished with that business, Jordan walked off happily, a grin on her face, book under her arm, and about forty more dollars (roughly, if she were to exchange) in her pocket. Thinking of what she should do, she remembered her clothing. She wasn't particularly fond of clothes shopping, but what she had currently was, for the most part, too large and rather uncomfortable. She glanced up into the sky. She had about another hour before the sun even began to set, and it wouldn't take her more than twenty minutes to get something better to wear.

Half an hour later, she stepped out of the shop with a bag clutched tightly in one hand and her book held up in front of her with the other. She really needed to get back to the inn, and Jordan had a feeling she'd probably be the last one to arrive.

Preoccupied with her book and trying to remember directions, Jordan didn't even notice the young man in her path until she crashed headlong into him. Her book was dropped to the ground, as well as her glasses and her bag. A few papers the man had scattered on the path as well.

"Oh jeez, I am so sorry," Jordan apologized profusely, helping to gather all the items before picking up her glasses last. She offered a small stack of the papers to him, which he took disinterestedly. Upon catching sight of her, he suddenly smiled. To Jordan, it seemed rather sinister.

"Don't worry about it. But, could I ask for your help with something?" Without even waiting for an answer, the man grabbed her roughly by the arm and led her forcefully toward a back alley.

"Um, I'm sorry, but I really must be going!" Jordan struggled as hard as she could, but to no avail. Before she could scream for help, the man clasped his other hand over her mouth.

"You're not going anywhere, miss. I simply cannot allow you to remain in our way of Edward Elric."

"Huh?"

A quick flash of light, and standing in the place of a young stranger was Envy! Jordan really began to panic, but being pinned to a brick wall, couldn't do too much in her position. Lust came out of the shadows then, followed by Gluttony. Now Jordan was on the verge of a breakdown.

She quickly thought up a plan. Probably wouldn't work, but currently, Ed and Al weren't here to save her. Better than nothing. Jordan quickly kicked out with one foot and hit Envy squarely in the stomach. Whether it did any damage or not, Jordan didn't have time to check nor care, but instead ran out a few feet, performed the necessary hand movements for a transmutation, and pressed her hands against the earth. A thick stone wall rose up from the ground and blocked off the entrance to the alley. Before she could stop to do anything else, she picked up her bag and book and ran.

Jordan got back to the inn just as the two brothers did. When they inquired as to what she had been doing to cause her flushed appearance and heavy breathing, she simply said, "Been doing a little running around the town."

-----

_Just review. Push that little button. You know you want to..._


	8. The State Exam

_Finally, one of the longest-awaited chapters by readers AND me! _O.O _Anyway, I'll be changing my pen name soon, probably after I post chapter 9, so keep an eye out for that. Was going to be after this chapter, but the way I have it planned out won't let me. Confusing, I know, but you'll find out._

Shiriko Matsuhisa: I'm not going to freak out that much that the palm tree touched me. Kind of a creepy concept, but I don't even have any disinfectant on hand. Anyway, as for your method, I didn't exactly have time to get out a sword to lop off anybody's head. ;P And you're right, going off-topic is a talent, not a habit. Yay annoying talents!

Dancing Nightmare: Yes, exam this chapter. 'Tis a good thing. I wish that I could do alchemy in real-life too. I'm broke as well. And that kind of sucks, because I'm trying to save up to buy an ocarina like the ones from Zelda. Obviously, three against one isn't fair, and I agree. Freaking out is something most anybody would do in that situation.

Kimiko Sakato: You expected somebody to steal the necklace when the customer dropped the glass?...Actually, now that I think about it, that's actually perfectly understandable. I wonder how many people thought that...Glad you liked it!

Celedeen Tachibana: Heh, that is kinda weird that we both have stories with the same title AND we both mention POTC in them. Sweet. I'm glad you like mine so much and think its the best. It's a nice compliment. :3 Thanks!

Wandering Hitokiri: I'm glad you liked the chapter and that you like reviewing. If people like reviewing, it's easier to make them do so. And yes, you have to get him out of the dumpster. I'm sorry and I really wish it weren't so, but ya do.

**TZ: Entirely and utterly bored.**

**Ed: Why are you telling us this?**

**TZ: I have a strange need to annoy the nearest intelligent life forms...**

**Al: You annoy us enough by not just doing the disclaimers like you should.**

**TZ: Nevah!**

**Ed: Why is this so difficult for you?**

**TZ: Just because. The idea of owning FMA is a psychological need for me.**

**Al: But that's just it. It's only an idea and it's not true.**

**TZ: ; . ; You're crushing my dreams...**

* * *

Edward knocked loudly on the door. "Come on Jordan, we'll have to leave soon if you're going to get to headquarters in time for your exam before noon!" He called through the wood. 

"Ed, knock it off, I've been awake for three hours." Jordan said. She'd gotten up before anybody else had, and had already eaten, showered, and dressed in the clothing she'd bought the day before, and tied back her hair and braided it. She got up from her perch on the bed, stashed away the drawings she'd been working on, and unlocked the door. Rather purposefully, she had locked it with alchemy the night before so that people wouldn't intrude on her, whether they be friends or cleaning maids. A clap of the hands and a flash of blue light later, she stood in the doorway, leaning against the wall.

"Where'd that all come from?" Ed asked, sweeping his eyes over the girl's clothing. For a more permanent outfit, she'd bought nothing extravagant; she couldn't stand anything that wasn't pretty much plain. She'd invested in a simple pair of black pants, a gray t-shirt, and a deep blue jacket that was so dark it was almost black, which had the right sleeve scrunched up. She also was wearing a pair of brown fingerless gloves, which she'd gotten in order to hide the transmutation circle on her left hand. It made it less obvious she had the circle there.

"I earned a little bit of money yesterday, and figured I should get myself some clothes that actually _fit_ appropriately," Jordan responded. "And that saleswoman was pretty ticked that I refused to buy anything frilly. Now are we going to go or stand around? I'm nervous enough as it is, and waiting just makes me think of details to go wrong." Despite her joking manner, it was entirely true.

The older brother nodded, then something caught his attention. It was a bit faint, but there was a purplish bruising ringing the girl's forearm. Not to mention that the rest of her arm was scratched up as well. "Hey, what'd you do to get that?" He inquired.

"Get what?"

"That bruise on your arm, and all those scratches."

Jordan glanced at her arm, then blanched. When Envy had grabbed her arm yesterday, his grip had been so tight her arm had bruised, and the wall had scratched up both of her arms pretty badly."Um, I managed to trip myself yesterday, being clumsy as I am. Hit the edge of a table outside." Her expression immediately told him that she was flat-out lying.

"Nice try. Tell me the truth, though." Ed said calmly.

"I'm not lying to you, Edward."

Without warning, Ed reached out and grabbed Jordan's wrist. Before she could begin to protest, he was getting a closer look at the bruise. Held in the grip of his automail hand, she was unable to pull free until he willing let her go.

"Ow, what the hell was that all about!" She demanded.

"What did you do? You know you can tell me, right? That's actually pretty serious."

Jordan sighed. Best that she told him. She relayed to him the story of how Envy had tried to pull her into an alley, and then how Lust and Gluttony had appeared, and how she had just barely managed to escape alive. She made sure to mention how Envy had said that they wanted her 'out of the way of Edward'. When she finished, Ed was looking grim.

"Well, then we should wrap up our business here in East City as quickly as possible," he said simply.

Ed led the way downstairs, where Alphonse stood waiting at the bottom. "Ready to go?" The younger brother asked as they came down.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Jordan said.

They left the inn with nothing in hand, planning to come back for their things after the exam. Jordan's mind reeled with thoughts as they walked, the mid-morning bustle of the city entirely lost. What if she missed a lot of the questions on the written exam? What if something happened unexpectedly while she did her field test and her presentation was ruined? What if...

Sensing her discomfort, Edward placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't sweat it. I'm sure you'll do fine," he said with a small smile. Jordan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She sure hoped he was right.

All too soon, it seemed, the state alchemist headquarters loomed ahead of them. The chimera symbol on the front of the building shone dully in the sun, a reminder to Jordan of what she might have in her own pocket if she passed this exam.

The group passed through the front doors, where they saw Colonel Mustang already out there, waiting for them. He motioned toward Jordan to follow him, and when the brothers stayed behind, she suddenly felt very alone, despite the half-dozen other alchemists milling the halls. No, she hadn't expected that Ed and Al would be around as she took the test, but she now desperately wished that they could be. Friends were in high need now, for her.

Mustang led her to a small, empty room, out of the way of the busier parts of the building. A few unused desks stood in the room, one of which had a lone piece of paper on it. Jordan made her way over to this, figuring this was her written portion of the exam. When she saw no pen or pencil waiting, she sighed, clapped her hands together, and placed them on the desk. A blue glow, and she got a pencil for her efforts as she sat down.

"Nervous about your test?" Mustang asked coolly, teasingly.

"Yeah. I am. But, that's never stopped me before!" Jordan replied, taking another deep breath. As much as she disliked the colonel, she wouldn't let him psyche her out.

"You'll have one hour to finish this," Roy warned her before stepping out of the room and closing the door with a quiet little "click!"

Before she began, Jordan read all the questions on the front of her page, then flipped it to the back. When she finished skimming those questions, she went back to the front, and began slowly answering the first, starting with the ones who's answers came to her immediately and working her way to the harder ones.

Taking her time, she finished the test in about half an hour. She spent twenty minutes checking her answers again, revising longer answers and sometimes changing an answer entirely if she found it unsatisfactory. When she could find nothing else to work on, she found herself idly doodling in the corner of her page.

She'd just finished a rather accurate depiction of Colonel Mustang being struck by a bolt of lightning conjured by her when she began to hear footsteps coming along. Suddenly realizing that a drawing like that on her test wouldn't exactly look very good on her results, she quickly used alchemy and rid the paper of the drawing just as the real Roy Mustang unlocked the door and walked inside.

"Finished or not, its time to hand that in," he told her. Without hesitation, she stood up and handed him the paper. Mustang folded it into fourths and put it in a pocket to be checked later. He led Jordan out of the room and back outside the headquarters to a large, open area. Her face broke into a grin as she saw Ed and Al already waiting for her already, then fell as she saw that she had an audience of about two dozen other people, at the very least. She felt there were probably several more than that she couldn't see. Obviously, word had gotten around that there was a young girl taking the state alchemist's exam, and only one. Immediately, she felt like her stomach dropped lower than her shoes. There was no way she could do this. May as well lock her up now.

The one uplifting thing she could find as she was led out to the center of all these people were the encouraging looks of the brothers. It was hard to tell with Al's armor body, but somehow she knew he was cheering for her all the way, just as much as Ed was.

Mustang stepped back several feet, giving her room to perform her demonstration for her field test. "Well? We're all waiting," he said smugly. The way he said that made Jordan's anxiety vanish; he was acting like she couldn't do this at all! Well, she was going to show him.

"Of course Colonel, of course." She pulled off her gloves and took off her jacket, putting them well off to the side. No guarantees they would really be safe, but both were beginning to be uncomfortable, and trivial distractions like that wouldn't help her at all. She took a glance at the circle on her hand. It was a bit smudged, but serviceable nonetheless. She took a piece of chalk from her pocket to start, and sketched a transmutation circle on the ground about a foot in diameter.

When she stood there for about ten seconds doing nothing afterward, Ed began to get a bit anxious for his student. 'Why isn't she doing anything?' he thought.

"Miss Jordan, if you refrain from doing anything much longer, I will have no choice but to fail you on this exam," Mustang began, "And you very well know your punishment for fai-" He was quickly interrupted, as he had to quickly dodge about half a dozen sharp, six-inch javelins of stone. They struck the ground and stood at a straight forty-five degree angle with the earth. Jordan straightened up from her circle, looking quite smug. "Would you like to explain why you did that?" He demanded calmly, though he was a tad shaken by the attack.

"My demonstration, Colonel," she said equally as coolly. "I was hoping to show my skill in a fight, if you will. Of course, if the Flame Alchemist is too scared to face off against a measly thirteen-year-old girl who has only had a week of alchemy training, I can change my demonstration." As she said this, she made it seem entirely innocent.

The crowd gasped. Well, almost the whole crowd. Ed and Al were simply speechless. They'd only seen one person challenge Roy, and that was Edward himself. Now they knew why she kept her idea so secret. Of course they would have protested! Too late now, though. She had declared her challenge, and there was now way Mustang was about to back down from that insult.

"Of course, but it is your death wish." Mustang smirked and stepped away from the rest of the crowd. She wasn't sure why, but this was the time that she noticed Lieutenant Hawkeye off to the side, holding a clipboard and writing furiously.

Jordan jolted out of those thoughts when she heard the most unlikely sound of danger: somebody snapping their fingers. She dropped into a sideways roll and managed to get out of the way just in time to dodge a streak of flame. "Wow, that was not cool," she said to herself. She saw Mustang snap again, and clapped her her hands to the ground just in time to raise a sort of shield of stone. As the fire stuck it, it shattered to pieces, and the force shoved her back several feet. She tumbled against the ground and skidded to a halt on her back.

Everybody tried to lean in for a closer look, trying to see if the young girl was okay. Surprisingly, she got up fairly easily, almost laughing.

"Well, I know I'm quite the thrill seeker sometimes, but that wasn't quite the ride I was looking for," she said, grinning, keeping her thoughts sarcastic. She frowned, then looked around on the ground, realizing that her glasses were missing. She heard a cracking sound, then noticed that her glasses had been cleanly snapped in half at the bridge...under Mustang's boot. "Okay, now that wasn't nice. But if you were hoping to gain an advantage doing that, so much for it." It was true; the lenses were a very weak prescription, and she only really needed them for seeing long distance.

Her scoffing was interrupted quickly interrupted as an explosion erupted right in front of her. It was just close enough she could feel the heat, and, rather unprepared now and having little to call a 'plan', she turned tail and ran in the opposite direction as Mustang snapped his fingers multiple times, flames erupting almost at her back.

"Not fun not fun not fun!" She said to herself as she sprinted. Her calculating mind was already trying to put together a new plan. Jordan gasped as she slipped on the ground and landed face-first in the dirt. She'd stumbled into a sandy area of the arena. Knowing that Mustang wasn't about to lose this advantage, she turned around, clapped her hands together, and pressed them onto the sand. She was raised twenty feet into the air on a hill of sandy earth. From this she raised a new wall, which the next burst of flame struck.

Instead of shattering upon impact, the sand did a rather curious thing. The heat of the fire melted it down into a wall of crude glass. The crowd marveled, and Jordan dared open her eyes and peek over the top of her wall.

Mustang gave her a look of utmost curiosity and suspicion. However primitive the glass's quality, Jordan's position did magnify her body behind it to some extent. This included the back of her left hand, which no longer had the transmutation circle he knew she'd started with. Nothing remained of that besides a black smudge of ink. He kept this in mind. If she was able to continue to perform alchemy...He snapped his fingers again and sent another streak of fire up Jordan's way. She pulled up another wall of sand behind her first, and the same thing happened. This time, the combined layers of glass repelled the flames and sent them back Mustang's way. He was only barely able to get out of the way.

'I really need something better than this!' Jordan thought frantically. 'Too bad I can't really do lightning!' She added to that, referring to the drawing she'd done before. Wait...lightning was created when particles of positive energy on the ground and in the air found a path between negative energy. The sudden streak of charged electricity was what caused lightning. It was just like static electricity, times a thousand.

There was plenty of energy in the air, and all she had to do was use alchemy and create that path.

During the split second that Mustang was distracted, she slid on her feet down the hill and clapped her hands together as she went. The result was a flash of blinding lightning that struck the ground directly in front of the Flame Alchemist. He reeled back, and Jordan became quite relentless. Every time she clapped a new bolt struck around Mustang, and she clapped a good dozen times. He snapped his fingers and shot out some flame at her again, which she quickly countered and dispelled with another streak of lightning.

This continued for awhile. Neither could quite get to the other.

"Enough!" Mustang shouted suddenly. He'd seen enough. Jordan stopped, though held her hands poised to continue. "You are finished with your exam."

Finally taking the time to look at Mustang, she had to resist the urge to burst out laughing. The electrically charged air around him was making his hair stand up comically. Meanwhile, Ed was already laughing, the sound of his laughter echoing around the quiet area. "You'll have your results in one hour. Come back then." He turned sharply on his heel and headed back into the building, Riza following shortly after him.

"Um, sir, you might want to check-"

"Yes yes, I know," Mustang snapped, running his hand across his hair in an effort to flatten it. He wasn't oblivious to the murmurs and chuckles rolling throughout the audience, after all.

Jordan laughed as the colonel left, then scoped out the pieces of her glasses, which were still lying in the dirt. She clapped her hands together once more, and pressed them to the shattered glasses. In a blue light they were as good as new. Then she noticed that the transmutation circle that was on the back of her hand was no longer anything more than a black smear.

"When did I start doing transmutations like that?"

_Long chapter. Yayness! Review please!_


	9. Lightning

_Whoo, okay, NOW here's the chapter I was planning to change my name after. :3_

OrangeKittyAlchemist-Sony: Evil laughter be good, I'm glad I'm not the only one to think so. I'm glad that you like my fan fiction so much over the others of its variety. It makes me feel so very special. Don't apologize about the comedy. It's supposed to be funny, and I'm glad you like my brand of humor. As for a beta...I might, and I might not. It's an idea I've been tossing around for awhile, but my friends probably wouldn't be interested, my siblings are too young to read well OR give advice, and my parents...no. Thanks, though. I know that the new "no circles" alchemists are a tad common, but, unless I misinterpreted something, those who see the Gate are supposed to be able to do transmutations without circles (excluding homonculi, of course!), so I'm just trying to be storyline correct. Thanks for your suggestions!

Shiriko Matsuhisa: Okay, while I know a good deal of us want to cause bodily harm to Colonel Roy Mustang (me me me!), we cannot. If any characters die, then I can't use them, and then it'll disrupt my story. Yeesh.

Celedeen Tachibana: Hm, that is kind of interesting that my story and that one have the "lightning on the colonel" thing in common. Sweetness. :3

Taisa'sFireAngel07: Yay, go me/my character!

Purple Ghost Sausage: Haven't heard from you in a few chapters. :3 I'm glad you liked the plan for my exam. Believe it or not, it took me forever to think of something like that. e.e' I wondered how many people would catch the sand-glass thing early. At least one person did. Yay!

**TZ: The revealing of the secret has come! Yay!**

**Ed: Hardly a secret anymore.**

**TZ: Shut up please.**

**Al: Could you please just do the disclaimer this time? It's getting old having to fight with you all the time.**

**TZ: Uh...um...#collapses#**

**Ed: ...**

**Al: ...**

**TZ: #doesn't move# ...**

_**At this time, Edward proceeds to pick up a twig and poke TZ in the side several times with it. Al watches disinterestedly.**_

**Al: And while Brother does that, and TZ remains in a seemingly comatose state, I'll just say for her that she doesn't own anything related to FMA. Just herself.**

* * *

"Since when have you been able to do transmutations like what?" Al asked, coming up behind her with his older brother. Edward held out Jordan's coat and gloves to her, which she took gratefully. She put on her gloves, but simply tied her jacket around her waist. She noticed that one of the sleeves was singed, creating a burned rip. This would be a perfect opportunity to show what she meant. 

"Well, I don't know when, but my transmutation circle, the one on my hand, wore off." Jordan rolled the cuff of her glove off her left hand to prove her point. "Check it out." She untied her jacket again and put it on the ground, then pushed her glove back to how it should be. From there, she proceeded to clap her hands and press them to the blue fabric. The rip in her coat sewed itself together in an instant under the cover of the traditional glow, the burned and frayed threads reconnecting as if the damage had never been done.

"So it's true, huh? You can transmute without circles after all," Ed stated bluntly.

Jordan raised an eyebrow. " 'So it's true'? What do you mean by that?"

"When Colonel Mustang had me come down to East City to give me my new 'assignment' -which was tutoring you- he said that he had his suspicions that you could do transmutations without using a circle." Ed shrugged. "Turns out he was right. In that case, you'll probably have quite the chance of passing your exam."

"Hope so."

The three walked back to the inn with an hour to kill. Spirits lifted by her newfound talent and the hope that it would lead her to success in her exam, Jordan's mind raced in ecstatic thoughts. As soon as she set foot in her room, though, she found that she had nothing to do with herself, and bugging the brothers didn't seem like an option right now. Too bad she didn't have a sketchpad; she loved to draw.

Glancing over at a wooden dresser, she got an idea. All it took was a little alchemy performed on the chest, and she had herself a pencil and a sketchbook filled with crisp white sheets of paper. She laid on her bed and set to work immediately. Once again, she set to work on a drawing of a chibi Mustang and lightning, though this time she had a much better vision of what it should look like. She laughed rather evilly to herself as she labored away.

Didn't matter if it was a joke drawing, when she drew, it was done right or it was thrown away.

Engrossed in her work, she almost leaped straight through the ceiling when Al knocked on the door and said it was time to go back. However, she settled for leaping straight into the air and landing with a loud thump on the floor instead, her pencil flying up and landing with a 'tick!' on her head. Al immediately burst into the room to see if she was alright. When he saw her crouching on the floor, he sighed and figured she'd live.

"I'm fine," Jordan said to his unspoken question, straightening up and picking up her pencil and sketchbook. "You just severely startled me, is all."

"Sorry," Al said sheepishly.

"Eh, no worries. Let's go, I want to find out if I passed my exam or not." Jordan flipped her book back to its page as they walked and began carefully filling in some shading and doing a few other details to the uniform she'd missed before. She made a note to transmute a fine-point pen later.

"What're you working on?" Ed asked curiously as he caught up with them at the entrance to the inn.

Not looking up from her picture Jordan replied, "A drawing." When Ed tried to catch a glimpse over her shoulder, she nudged him away. "Hey, knock it off. I don't like having an audience. I'll let you see it when it's finished, all right? Not much left to it."

Anybody who had happened to be watching as Jordan performed her field exam fight against Mustang was still hanging around the headquarters building (with the exception of those few who had schedules too busy for such frivolity) in the hopes of seeing Jordan become the next youngest alchemist to pass the state alchemist exam. Jordan saw one woman with an owl amulet around her neck during the single occasion she looked up and recognized the woman as one of her 'customers' of the day before, and smiled wryly.

She finished up her final detail just as they walked through the doors of the building. In Mustang's place waiting for her was Lieutenant Hawkeye. Seeing Jordan carrying a sketchbook, of all things, made the older woman think that she wasn't quite serious enough for this. Yet, nothing could be said.

"Hey there, Lieutenant," Edward greeted her. Riza smiled slightly and nodded to show that she recognized the young man's greeting.

"Colonel Mustang is waiting for you in his office, Jordan. You're to come alone," she added, when the boys meant to follow after them. Jordan handed her sketchbook to Ed and followed Riza through the hallways. Many alchemists stopped to stare after her, having seen the battle an hour prior. They all thought it was unlikely they'd get another young alchemist like her, but after that display, and after Edward Elric being recruited...who knew anymore?

Outside Mustang's door, Riza knocked smartly against the thick wood. When a muffled "enter" was heard, she opened the door and briskly ushered Jordan in and stepped into the room herself. Jordan barely heard the door close as she stood about three feet in front of the colonel's desk and assumed a position of attention.

Roy stood with his back to the girl, contemplating how to begin. Jordan waited expectantly, resisting the urge to shuffle nervously. When the silence was at the point of becoming completely intolerable, the colonel spoke.

"So...I take it you want to know your exam results, right?" Mustang said lightly, still not turning to face the anxious girl.

"Yes sir," Jordan said as respectfully as she could. That attitude of his was really getting under her skin.

Mustang finally did turn to look at Jordan. He stared straight at her, and she met his gaze evenly. Riza watched this exchange with mild interest. "Well, I am sure you'll be...overjoyed to know that you passed. With flying colors, I might add."

It took a moment for this fact to register in Jordan's mind, having been thinking of quite a myriad of other responses she almost expected. When she did realize exactly what the man had said, it was as though something had quite suddenly clicked. "I...did?" She asked numbly. Just to make sure she'd heard him right.

"Yes, you passed," Mustang repeated. "You did extroardinarily well, at least, considering the small amount of preperation time given. You didn't miss any of the written questions, quite the surprise. And, I must admit-" and it pained him to say this, "-that you did very well in your field exam, and were quite the opponent on the battlefield."

Jordan couldn't help it. She smirked, and had to bite down on her tongue to avoid snickering.

He regained his composure and continued. "Though, I must say, a good part of your success was based on your ability to transmute without circles. Much like our young Edward Elric."

"So much for the happy mood," Jordan commented dryly. Neither of the adults missed it.

"We need alchemists like you," Mustang went on, "The surprise you cast is most useful, and besides your talent you have some alchemic ability to you."

'Some?' She thought.

The colonel motioned for Jordan to come closer, and retrieved a finely-printed piece of paper and a pen from opposite ends of his desk. "As soon as you put your signature on this, you will be a fully licensed state alchemist," he explained. "Of course, there is your alchemist name, the one you will be referred to as by the military, that is explained on that sheet as well."

"What is my alchemist name anyway?" Jordan inquired, taking the offered pen and skimming the lettering. "If I'm going to be called by a nickname, I ought to at least know what it is." She put her left hand on the desk and leaned heavily on it as she continued to read. She wondered if Roy even noticed.

"Due to the way you repelled my flames earlier, your unusual alchemy of lightning-" Mustang scowled as he remembered that; his hair was still a little messy from the charge, "-And your affinity for dragons," He added, eying the pendant on Jordan's chain, "You're now to be known as the Lightning Dragon Alchemist."

"Lightning Dragon," Jordan reiterated to herself, reveling in the sound of the name. "I like the sound of that." She pressed the pen's tip to the bottom of the page, and hesitated. This was a huge deal. At the age of thirteen, she was about to join the military; her mother's nightmare and frankly, hers too. This was a tad different, seeing as she wasn't going to be on the call of duty quite as much; very little in fact, being only an enlisted woman. But this still felt like quite a turning point for her life. Before she could even begin to reconsider, she remembered what would happen if she didn't accept, and scribbled her signature along the appointed line.

The deed was done, and there was no turning back.

Mustang took up the document and placed it in a corner of his desk to be filed away later. He could swear that recruiting new alchemists was more paperwork than it was worth sometimes. Instead of voicing his opinions, he reached into a drawer in his desk and pulled out a shining silver chain, from which dangled a round, gleaming pocketwatch. The chimera and transmutation circle design was inlaid in the top, plain as day. Nothing special, no ceremony, he simply held out the watch and dropped it into Jordan's hand. Somehow, the weight seemed...oddly familiar to her, not counting having it before upon her first arrival.

"Not much of a welcoming ceremony," Jordan joked lightly, running her fingertips over the smooth surface.

"Sure. Congrats, you're a military dog." Mustang responded seriously. Jordan almost laughed; almost the exact same words he'd given to Edward when he was recruited.

"You are to report back tomorrow morning, noon sharp," Colonel Mustang ordered. "I will give you your first commands then. Tell Full Metal that he is to come as well." Satisfied with his command, he added, "You are dismissed."

Jordan saluted respectfully, and when Mustang returned the gesture, she turned back on her heel and left. She closed the door gently behind her. Only about ten steps away from the door, she checked to see that nobody was in the halls, then squealed happily. She had made it! All her work had paid off! Her celebration was short-lived, however, as Lieutenant Fuery came down her hallway. She adopted a calm demeanor and marched past.

When she emerged back into the main room of headquarters, she noticed Ed and Al waiting patiently for her. Or rather, Alphonse was the patient one. Ed was pacing nervously back and forth in front of his younger brother, still holding her sketchbook and wanting to know about his friend's success. Unsure why she was doing this, Jordan got an idea. She bowed her head, slouched forward a bit, and shoved her hands in her pockets, hoping the bulge of her new pocketwatch wouldn't give away her ploy.

Al was the first to catch sight of Jordan as she exited the hallway. "Brother, she's back!" He exclaimed happily. Ed immediately looked up and rushed over. The way she was quickly told him something was wrong.

"Hey...what happened?" He asked almost reluctantly. "You...you didn't fail, did you?"

"Well Edward, what little birdy told you that?" She asked innocently. Upon Ed's confused expression, she produced her watch from her right pocket and rose her gaze to meet his, holding the watch up next to her face. "I passed, and as an added bonus, I think I embarrassed the hell out of Mustang," she laughed. The others joined her.

"Well, congratulations," Ed said finally, holding out his hand toward Jordan, "You're officially a state alchemist, and a dog of the military." They shook hands with old familiarity, smirking with the absurdity of it. "So, Mustang tell you your name?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah." Jordan deftly yanked her sketchbook from Ed's other hand and flipped to her first page. "I'm now the Lightning Dragon Alchemist." She held up her drawing for viewing pleasure as they began to walk out of the building. "Fitting, no?" The two brothers laughed at the chibi Mustang, and Jordan put it away quickly before anybody else saw it. Just in case.

"By the way, Mustang wants us back at noon sharp tomorrow," Jordan said as she remembered the orders. "He'll have our missions tomorrow, apparently." Edward nodded. "And also by the way..." Before Ed could react, she whirled him around to face her and wrapped him into a brief embrace. "Thanks a lot. If you hadn't helped me with all this, I wouldn't have had a chance of passing." When she pulled away again, neither had much to say to her actions. However, both were blushing, Ed more so than Jordan.

It didn't help that Al was laughing softly.

_Review guys, I shouldn't have to remind you._


	10. One Last Visit?

_Not many people reviewed...how lovely..._

Shiriko Matsuhisa: Yes, yay for embarrassing Mustang. :3 Wish I could really do that. Well, as for a celebration, it would have been lovely to burst out with a song that doesn't exist in that world and lose all military bearings to dance like crap. But, I do have enough sense not to do that. Glad you like it. As for your turn to glomp Ed...um...on your own time.

Purple Ghost Sausage: Static-hair Mustang would be rather hilarious to really see. Glad you thought the ending was sweet, that's kinda what I was going for. I'm trying to 'evolve' off of that...heh...possibly...Not totally sure yet.

Russanodrey: Cool, I'm glad you can understand this without ever having watched FMA. That's what I'm trying to do. Yay!

**Dragon: Changed my name! Yay me!**

**Ed: ...Why?**

**Dragon: 'Cause I need to flee the coun-I mean, just because. Anyway, I'm in a good mood because I changed my penname from TwilightZelda, so I'll just say that I own my character and nothing more. Don't get used to it.**

* * *

"I do not, Alphonse!" 

"Sure, Brother. You're just saying that, aren't you?"

"Will you just drop it? She's just a friend!" Edward rolled onto his back, opting to stare up at the ceiling than continue this pointless 'conversation' with his brother. Al was giving him a hard time about Jordan having hugged him in thanks that afternoon.

"You were the one that was blushing," Alphonse teased.

Ed rolled his eyes. "Shut it." It was just that not many girls exactly randomly hugged him on a regular basis.

At least, that was the reason he was trying to convince of his brother, and maybe himself. He put his arm over his eyes and tried to relax. He needed to get some sleep, but he couldn't help thinking about whether the missions that Mustang commissioned to him and Jordan would wind up seperating them or not.

--------------------

Jordan leaned back heavily against her pillows, the dim candlelight she drew by flickering across her page. She glanced at the candles by her bedside. The three that were there were drastically short, the melted wax puddled around them in heavy waves. She stuck her pencil behind her ear, licked her forefinger and pinched out each of the flames, then clapped her hands and pressed them to each candle in turn. The room illuminated briefly in the blue light as the candles were rebuilt from the wax, made good as new. She picked up the match she'd been using and reusing for the past two hours (she'd fix it for reuse with alchemy each time), struck it against a purposely roughened part of the table, and relit the candles.

She stared down at her sketchpad, scowling at the drawing. She'd been trying, with no success, to draw the two brothers. Not realistically, of course, but in a manga style, which was what she was a little better at. So far, though, even though she had the living, breathing people to work off of, she couldn't get it quite right. Every time Jordan got halfway through one drawing, she'd find something or another wrong with it, and clear the page to start over. She did this again, still unsatisfied.

As she reached for her pencil, her thoughts strayed back to that afternoon.

It had been an impulse of thanks, nothing more, that she had hugged him.

Why was she still thinking about it? She sighed and carelessly dropped her sketchbook onto the floor next to her travelbag. It was past midnight, according to the clock hanging on the wall. Sleep was a human necessity, even for her, however nocturnal she could be at times. Jordan clapped her hands and smoothed out the match-striking part of her table.

Without even bothering to put the blanket over herself, she blew out the candles again and laid back and stared at the ceiling, throwing her pencil in frustration at the door. It bounced harmlessly off the wood. As soon as her head made contact with the pillow, a hard object was pressed against against her skull. She lifted her head and pulled a fine-point pen from where it had been thrust through her hair, right above the hairband at the nape of her neck.

Well, it was a convenient place to keep a pen, where it wouldn't keep rolling off the table or the bed.

--------------------

The next morning, Jordan somewhat reluctantly packed her bag. She simply got rid of her old clothing to make it easier to pack away her books and sketchpad. As she placed the sketchbook over the top of her alchemy volumes, she stopped. What if...what if the colonel's mission for her sent her on a different path from her friends? It was highly likely; after all, it wasn't often that state alchemists were sent on the same job together.

Guess it gave her more of a chance to work on getting home, however reluctant she would be to strike out on her own. She had always been a solitary type of girl, but she'd really struck up good friendships with Ed and Al.

She clasped her bag shut and pulled on her jacket, leaving it unzipped as she readied herself to leave. As she stood up, and picked up her bag, she noticed that she'd left her pocketwatch on the table. Jordan grabbed it and started to slip it into her right pocket, then paused long enough to hook the ring at the end of the chain onto her beltloop first. Things that went into her pocket had a habit of vanishing if she didn't secure them somehow.

She bolted downstairs, anxious to see how the day was to turn out. Sliding down on the banister, a man going up the stairs gave her one of those 'death looks' that she'd seen aimed her way hundreds of times before, and she could only laugh.

Surprisingly enough, she found Ed and Al already downstairs waiting for her, sitting at a small table in the dining area. Ed was pushing the last couple bites of food around his plate with his fork, not hungry to the extreme.

"Since when are you not hungry?" Jordan asked jokingly as she came up behind them and pulled up a chair.

Ed smirked. "Some greeting."

"Oh come on, I'm not one for formal hellos and whatnot," Jordan shrugged. To change the subject she said, "I wonder what Colonel Mustang had for us to do. Less than twenty-four hours into my military stance and I'm already being sent off somewhere."

"I'm sure it's pointless things he doesn't want to send more qualified alchemists to go do," Edward said, hiding an amused smile.

"Yeah, most likel...Hey!" Jordan punched him lightly in the arm. Unfortunately, she was sitting to his right, and so managed to really only hurt herself as she punched his automail.

"Ow, that kinda...hurt," she muttered wincing.

"Don't hit that arm then," Ed said indifferently and went back to his food.

A plain-dressed waitress came to the table then, having noticed Jordan had arrived since her last visit. Though she wasn't very hungry herself, Jordan ordered some simple toast, handed the woman a coin from a pocket farther down on the right leg of her pants, and looked around the room at the few other occupants of the small inn.

"So what do you plan to do now Jordan?" Al asked. "The colonel probably won't assign you to the same mission as us, after all."

Jordan sighed. "I don't know. When Mustang doesn't have anything for me to do...I guess I'll try to find a way back home."

The waitress came back and left a small plate with a couple pieces of toast on the table in front of Jordan. She lazily picked up one piece and munched at it thoughtfully. How would she go about this business of getting home? She hardly knew how she even got _here_.

She noticed from the corner of her eye a glass of milk sitting on its lonesome. Ed had pushed it away in disgust when the waitress had brought his meal before. Jordan regarded it thoughtfully.

"You touched that yet?" She asked, pointing at the glass.

"No. Don't plan to either."

"Thought so." Jordan grabbed the glass, tilted it a couple different ways as if examining it, then shrugged and took a drink. "No sense in letting something paid for go to waste," she said after she swallowed. "I really can't see why you hate milk so much."

"I just don't like it," came the plain response.

"Well that's what explains why you're so short," Jordan teased. Ed cast her a sidelong glare. "Oh, come on, I'm kidding. Besides, I drink milk all the time and _I'm_ still short." She downed the last of the glass and worked at her second slice of toast. "I realize that I'm probably the only one who's allowed to say that besides Al, right?"

"Just barely."

Curious of the time and unable to find a clock within view, Jordan pulled out her watch to check the time. Her eyes widened as she realized how late it was. "Oh sh-," She stopped herself mid-curse, not wanting to finish the swear. "It's 11:45 already. We need to go now!" She snapped her watch shut, dropped it in her pocket, and jumped up. Ed and Al followed suit. She dropped the last uneaten half of her toast on the plate to be cleaned up by the maids and bolted for the door.

"Why does the town have to be the most crowded when we have to be somewhere?" Jordan asked rhetorically as the three dodged and weaved between the citizens of East City. "Oh, wait, that's right. Because fate has a bone to pick with me. I don't know about you guys, but it doesn't like me."

"Hey, watch where you're going!"

"Okay, so now that guy doesn't really like me either. Surprise, surprise."

The alchemists pushed through the double doors leading into headquarters panting for breath (well, at least Ed and Jordan were). They had about two minutes to make it up to Mustang's office before he could claim them as being late.

Well, at least it wasn't so far they had to continue running.

On Mustang's standards, Jordan and Edward emerged into his office 'just in time', Al waiting outside. The colonel was patiently sitting at his desk, scrawling his signature across the bottom of a sheet of paper when they came quietly in. Lieutenant Hawkeye wasn't present in the room, out running a different military-related errand.

Mustang stood up, and Jordan and Ed both saluted in respectful greeting. When the colonel returned the gesture, they dropped it. Both were having internal problems with having to salute to one of their least favorite people in the world, but said nothing.

"You're both here to receive your missions, am I correct?" Mustang asked.

"Yes sir," Jordan said promptly.

Roy beckoned them closer, and pulled out a map from a drawer and unrolled it on his desk so that the two could see it. He pointed to a small city off a good distance west from East City with one gloved finger.

"Full Metal, Lightning Dragon, your mission will be here. There have been reports of increased activity in this area, the town of Lexalin. Rumors are that homonculi are to blame."

Ed was a tad more attentive at the mention of the homonculi.

"The two of you are to both go to Lexalin and see if these rumors are true," Mustang explained. He rolled up the map again and placed it in his desk drawer.

"You want...both of us to go?" Jordan questioned.

"Yes. I figured it would be a little safer to have the smaller alchemists together. Don't you agree?" Mustang smirked, and Jordan found herself gripping the desk with quite a force. Edward was right about to burst out yelling at the colonel when Lieutenant Hawkeye came into the room holding another small stack of papers. It was much perfect timing.

"The two of you are dismissed," Mustang said shortly. Ed and Jordan saluted again and left quickly.

Outside in the hall, Jordan heaved a sigh. "If he keeps implying that I'm short -which I _do_ know already- I'm going to have to hurt him."

"I know that feeling," Edward agreed.

"One of these days," Jordan said thoughtfully, "He's going to greet me with 'Hello, shrimp' or something like that. Then there's going to be a gravestone somewhere that reads, 'Colonel Roy Mustang: Age 28, Bachelor, Killed in Action Before Receiving a Greeting Back!'" She snickered at the thought, and so did Ed. "But until then, we'll just amuse ourselves knowing that Riza's probably in there right now with her gun to his head to make him do his paperwork."

--------------------

"So which do we have to take first?" Jordan asked, skimming over a paper list of train routes taped next to the ticket window. Lexalin was a ways away, so it would probably take a couple days' worth of train rides to get there. Al looked over her shoulder to read (which wasn't hard).

Ed scanned the sheet. "Right here." He pointed to a route listed to go to Risembool.

"Are you sure?" Al asked skeptically.

"What's one last visit before we head out again?" Edward asked with a shrug.

_Still right about doing my writing late at night. It's 12:24 A.M. O.o Review please!_


	11. A Few Flowers

_Buying an FMA pocketwatch is me! Seriously, I went online and bought one for $10, which was pretty much all of my money... Sweet. Get myself a jacket and some gloves and I can be exactly like my character, once it gets here. :3 Watashi gozen konna ato baka otaku. (In English, "I am such a stupid fan.")_

_Me is sad though. School has started again. #cry# Harder to update my fan fictions now...which is why this one came a bit late...  
_

Naoko-Miharu: Thanks for the apparent awesomeness of my chapter. :3 Anyway, Mustang really should learn to watch his mouth. Aw, thanks for the rating. And trust me, you made plenty of sense.

Shiriko Matsuhisa: Quit quoting Ed if it seems like such a big deal. v.v' I personally like milk, and don't see too much how other people hate it, but whatever. Be careful if you're yelling at people for calling you short...It does get people in trouble, believe me. And NO, you can't go kill the palm tree fa-I mean Envy! Killing him means no more story, because he'll be making a few more appearances later! Yeesh. Anyway, maybe late-night writing does improve quality. I'm not sure. Just works for me 'cause I don't have anything better to do between the hours of 11:00-1:00.

Wandering Hitokiri: Glad you like the idea for Jordan's alchemy. Ya know, I actually had to go look up the cause of lightning in order to put _creating _lightning into alchemic terms. That's how determined I am to make this story work! And yes, Mustang's hair is hilarious. I still like it. :3 I should draw that one of these days when I'm bored.

Dancing Nightmare: Yes, blame your parents. #also pokes your parents# Oh well, I do forgive you. :P Making Roy's hair stand up seemed to make a lot of people's day, of which I am glad. Makes my day every time I go back to reread that chapter too. And about how this fic might turn out...Well, it's an idea I've been toying with. I'm trying to think out how it will work, so it's possible and maybe probable...

Purple Ghost Sausage: Off mission-ing together...I need to remember that line. :3 Yeah, it's pretty much pointless if you've memorized three of Edward's "short rants" if you forget to use them when you're called short, too. I usually just agree that I'm short, since it's usually my friends who say it. That, and if I started yelling at them during school, or at my parents, I'd get in trouble.

Celedeen Tachibana: Heh, no need to apologize if you didn't get the alert email. I haven't been getting any. Every time I want to check my reviews I have to check my stories stats, because the emails for the reviews have been delayed about a week and half or so. I just now started getting the emails for reviews I got that long ago. #sigh# Oh well. Yeah, I do very well think it's true that I get my best writing done late at night (or early, early morning, if you think that way). Or at least I get the most writing done at that time.

**Dragon: #is alone# Where is everybody...I feel so alone...**

**_No reply._**

**Dragon: Damn. Since I'm obviously unwanted, I'll just say I don't own FMA. End of that. Now why do I have to do this every chapter?...Is anybody out there? At all?...Helloooo...  
**

* * *

Jordan's mood became increasingly sour as she kept trying to draw on the train ride to Risembool. She'd finally gotten a good picture started that she wasn't about to drop, but as picky with details that she was, she kept having to redo entire segments of it. 

"What is it you're working on now?" Ed asked curiously.

She sighed and put the point of her pencil to the paper, trying to think of a way to improve a detail on her figure's hair. "Just trying to draw an elven girl. But, terrible as I am with hands and three-quarter shots, it's taking me longer than I thought it would." She tapped her pencil tip repeatedly against the drawing, still trying to figure improvements. "I really should have taken that art class in school." Okay, so she lied. That wasn't exactly what she was working on; she'd done an elf awhile ago. But if she told them, she'd be embarrassed to all hell.

After awhile longer of sketching in main shapes and trying to work around the thousands of straight criss-crossing guidelines, she gave up and put the sketchpad away in her bag, favoring staring out the window instead. She propped her elbow on the window's edge and dropped her chin into the palm of her hand, watching as the plain but admirable countryside sped by.

"So Brother, do you think it could be true? That the homonculi could be in Lexalin?" Alphonse asked quietly.

"I dunno, Al," Ed responded in as equally low a tone. "It's possible."

"Guys, I'm less than two feet away from either of you and I have sharp hearing. You don't need to talk so quietly about it. It's not like I don't know about the homonculi anyway." Jordan looked back at them from the corner of her eye.

Al glanced at her. "You actually know about the homonculi?"

"Yes, I do. Rumors get around to me, usually," She said simply. Inside, she berated herself for having to lie again. That was how she had to live here. If she told them the truth of how she knew all these things, she'd probably be labeled a freak or something and ignored. "Besides, do you think Mustang would have assigned me to this mission if I didn't?"

--------------------

"So I take it we'll stay 'round another night and head back out in the morning?" Jordan asked as they walked along the dirt path that would eventually lead them back to the home of the Rockbells. The sun was just shy of beginning to set, and she thought about heading out to find a good place to see it.

"That's the plan," Edward agreed.

"Hopefully Winry won't find something wrong with your automail this time," Jordan said, remembering how furious Winry had been the visit prior. "It's only been, what, two days?"

"Knowing her, she will," Al said meekly.

"Keep your coat on, Ed."

Just as it had been before, the first sign of their arrival was Den running out from somewhere or another and barking at the familiar faces. Jordan was almost tackled by the friendly dog, always seeming to be loved by any animal she met. Winry, hearing the commotion of Den barking and people laughing, abandoned her work and stepped out on to the upstairs balcony and looked around to see what the cause of the noise was.

"Down Den, get down!" Jordan laughed as she tried to push the dog away onto all four paws. She caught sight of Winry looking down at them from the balcony and waved, with some difficulty as she tried to keep down Den.

With an excited gasp, Winry darted back into the house. From the ground below, the trio could hear something along the lines of "Grandma, they're back from East City!" Only a few seconds after that could be heard, the lock clicked and the door swung open to reveal her and Pinako (though the older woman was farther back in the house) in the doorway.

"Well, um, hi," Jordan said simply, smiling widely.

They were ushered inside fast enough, and everybody settled down around the kitchen table. Pinako took her pipe from her mouth and finally asked the all-expected question: "So how did you do on your exam?"

Ed leaned back in his chair with a smirk of self-satisfaction, still pleased with how his tutoring had worked out. Nobody wanted to burst his bubble.

Jordan decided not to pull the same trick she had pulled on Edward. "Well, I managed to embarrass the colonel quite a bit when...I passed." She fiddled with the ring to her watch and unhooked it from her belt loop, then slid the watch onto the table. "Way he was acting, I thought I'd wind up having to pry it from his hands." No sooner had it touched the table then it was snatched up by Winry. She brought it right up to her face, admiring every detail.

"Well, congratulations on passing," said Pinako, even though Jordan still knew she disapproved of the military. Couldn't do anything.

"Thanks," Jordan replied with a grin.

"The craftsmanship on this is amazing," Winry marveled, her eyes sparkling. "I just want to take it apart and see how it all works!" She glanced at Jordan over the top of the watch, her expression pleading.

'Some congratulations.' "I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Jordan began warily. "I could get in a lot of trouble if that's broken..."

Winry leaned across the table, and Jordan found herself idly wishing the other girl would pull up her black tube top just a tiny bit more, and averted her eyes. "Oh please, Jordan? I promise I'll put it back together exactly the way it's supposed to work!" She vowed.

"Didn't I go through this same argument before?" Ed asked quietly. Nobody particularly noticed.

Unable to lean back any farther in her chair then she already was, Jordan was caught for about five seconds staring straight back at Winry's twinkle-eyed begging look. She sighed and came to a conclusion. "Alright, fine. Go ahead. But make sure that you don't lose a single part; that way if you wind up not fixing it right I can put it back together later." She barely was able to finish the sentence before Winry darted away upstairs to work at her new project. Judging by the gusto with which Winry left, Jordan judged she'd be finished quite soon.

"Are you sure you should have let her do that?" Alphonse asked.

Jordan shrugged in response. "Well, as long as she keeps all the parts together, I can fix it with alchemy later. It'll be fine." She stood up and pushed her chair back, then zipped up her jacket. "Now I'm gonna head out for a little bit. Should be back soon." She dug up her sketchbook and pencil and left, quietly letting the door click behind her.

The setting sun cast long shadows along the trees and buildings, prompting Jordan to begin jogging toward where she wanted to go. Her goal wasn't very far away, but she still wanted to see as much of the sunset as she could. Where she lived, there wasn't any way she really could see a sunset, and she wasn't about to lose a good opportunity.

She slowed down when she reached the bottom of the hill, but still kept a quick pace as she marched deliberately up the slope. At the top, she carefully tucked the sketchpad under her arm, stuck her pencil behind her ear again, and leaped up to grab a thick branch of the tree that stood tall and proud at the hilltop. Jordan managed, with a degree of difficulty, to scramble up the tree's trunk and up onto the branch, then in a matter of several more minutes was sitting on a limb about halfway up the tree's total height (which, all in all, was only about fifty feet), all with the use of only one hand. She had a perfect view of the sunset, and if she settled herself just right in the crook between the branch and the trunk she could sit comfortably as she worked on her latest drawing.

In fact, the view she was at was the perfect angle for her to work on her picture for an idea of how it should look.

She glanced down through the branches at the ground.

Of course. Naturally, in her haste, she had picked the hill that played host to Trisha Elric's grave. She sighed. The rose Ed had left there a little over a week ago had withered into nothing more than a husk of the beautiful flower it had been. Several of the petals had flaked off and blown away, others were still attached but hanging on for dear life.

Jordan heaved another sigh. She really wished it wasn't a story she was now living instead of witnessing from a world where it would be considered fantasy and nothing more. She stared sadly down at the age-ruined flower for a moment longer, then turned her attention back to the sunset and her drawing, the items of her original attention.

She worked on the drawing until well after the sun dipped down below the horizon. It was perfectly dark all around before she began to realize the evening chill through her jacket. As the nighttime wind began to pick up, whipping her hair into her face and twigs against her skin, she decided it was about time she went back to the house...But it was so quiet out here...Surely a few more minutes wouldn't hurt anybody.

"Thought you said you were coming back 'soon'?" A familiar voice asked. Jordan gasped and would have fallen from her perch had she not dropped the pencil on her lap to grasp another branch.

"Damn it Edward, don't scare me when I'm twenty-five feet up a tree!"

"Sorry. We got worried when you didn't come back," Alphonse's voice responded. Ah, so they were both there. She looked down to see both the brothers gazing expectantly back up at her. A sudden thought struck her. How in the world did she not here them coming?

"I've only been gone about half an hour, haven't I?" Jordan inquired, confused.

"Try a little closer to an hour and a half," Edward said, laughing slightly.

"Oops." Jordan tucked her pencil into her pants pocket, snapped her sketchpad shut, and began to work her way down the tree branches. "I didn't freak out anybody too bad, did I?"

Al replied, "Well, nobody knew where you had gone. When it got dark and you still didn't come back, we thought something had happened."

"Sorry guys. Really didn't mean to be gone so long. I got so caught up in my drawing that I didn't even notice how late it was." Jordan landed with a thump from the last ten-foot jump. Her glasses bounced off her nose from the jolt and fell to the ground out of sight. The withered petals of the dried rose whispered next to her shoe, and she was sure her glasses went there. The boys didn't seem to notice.

"Well, we'd better get back. Pinako and Winry will worry about _us_ if we take too long," Edward said, "And I'm tired." He finished his declaration with a wide yawn.

"Wow. Well, can you trust me a few more minutes? My glasses fell and I need to find them. Go ahead back, I'll be right there." They nodded and turned to leave. Jordan, having an idea, found her glasses almost immediately, but didn't run after Ed and Al. She lingered another minute or two, pressing her hands together lightly and hoping nobody noticed the blue glow.

--------------------

Alphonse snuck out of the house early, before any of the others woke up. He knew that as soon as Ed and Jordan rose, they would have to start the lengthy train ride out to Lexalin. Coming out to Risembool had set them back about a half day, so it was going to take longer than it would have if they had set out straight from East City. They would need to leave as soon as possible.

He went back to where they had found Jordan the night before, the hill where his deceased mother's grave resided. He'd yet to get a chance to pay his respects, and while he didn't have much to offer, he still wanted to come by.

Al was greeted by quite a pleasant and surprising sight when he reached the hill's top. The gravestone was was sitting side-by-side to a small, flowering, bushy plant. Vines crept from the bush around the bottom of the stone, and small pink flowers with deep purple tips punctuated the vines here and there. All in all, it was rather lovely.

When Al relayed this story to the others when he came back, Jordan had to hide a smile at her handiwork as the brothers rushed back out the door not a minute after, Al wanting to show his older sibling the 'miracle'.

_Grr...took me too long to write this. Stupid school; actually finished this at a decent hour this time (5:08 PM). Review for my hard work please!_


	12. A Long Ride

_Cursed school...I got so used to having all the time in the world to update, that now it seems like I have none..._

_In other news...I got my watch! Yay! _:3 _I now walk around school as an alchemist in camo pants. Heh heh heh...  
_

Purple Ghost Sausage: Lucky. There are some people I'd love to yell at for calling me short. #sigh# Oh well. You're also lucky because you get to go to your anime convention. I don't think we have any anime conventions around where I live. Crud. Oh well. Your costumes sound fun. Good luck with that. :3 Glad you liked the flower bush thing.

Dancing Nightmare: Yes, beware the evil poky finger of doom. :3 'Tis a good thing you can picture the bushy plant in your head, that's always good. Why won't you tell me what your guess is that Jordan's drawing? I want to know what you think. Yeah, I've noticed there is absolutely no point to whispering when people are right next to you. And!...I want that book. ;.;

Naoko-Miharu: 'Tis a good thing everybody likes the ending of the chapter. I was kinda going for a good thing there. Don't worry if you're bad with plants. To tell the truth, I don't think I do so good with them either. They either never grow or they die because I forget to water them or something...Bleh. Glad somebody agrees with me that school sucks when you're trying to write fan fictions! T.T Anyway, I won't ignore you if you're ranting. Ranting is fun.

Shiriko Matsuhisa: Chapter is cool. That's good. If I do ever do that picture (which I'm not sure if I will or not; I've tried a few times already), I'll post it up for ya. :3

Taisa's Fire Angel07: What phrase that I used? Not sure what you're talking about...#shrug# Anyway, it is fun to be your own OC...I'm two as well! This one and the one in my other fan fiction. Yay! Don't worry, I won't ruin my eyes being on the computer. I get long enough breaks. Thanks for the congratulations!

Dragonlilly396: Whee! Another story fan. :3 If you wanna see what happens next, scroll down a little bit, you'll get there.

Celedeen Tachibana: Thanks, I was kinda going for the 'sweetness' in the flower-bush thing next to Trisha's grave. :P

Dust Bunny Queen: I'm updating as fast as I can. Stupid school and stupid dad taking his laptop to Spokane for half a week...Anyway. The irony of a crispy-fried Roy...very interesting. O.O

Fullmetal Ice Alchemist: Hope I did that right; spelling off memory because I'm too lazy to look up my reviews again. Glad you like my story! Thanks!

**Dragon: They've come back! Yay!**

_**She glances at Ed and Al, who are bound to a couple of chairs with heavy duty rope. **_

_**Edward looks up to a hidden security camera, through which the audience views them, and clearly mouths the words "Help us".**_

**Dragon: Happy me. **

**Al: That's it, I give up. You're just crazy.**

**Dragon: I could be...**

**Ed: Too many disclaimers, I would bet...  
**

**Dragon: Hm, no, I'm just insane and rather enjoy it.**

**Ed: Again, I'll say...#looks back at the camera# Help us!**

**Dragon: Now I'm off to figure out a way to own FMA, unlike now. Owning the one character is somewhat depressing. **

**_Dragon leaves the room, leaving Ed and Al as they are._**

**Al: This could be bad.**

**_Ed struggles to loosen the rope. In the process, his chair tips, and he and the chair fall backwards, him still tied to it.  
_**

**Ed: No Al...this is just perfect. The entire opposite of bad... of course it's bad! -.-'  
**

* * *

"Is it even still ticking?" Jordan wondered aloud. She lowered her head slightly and shook her watch next to her ear, staring off to the side as she listened for a quiet, assuring ticking sound over the rumble of the train on its tracks and the murmered conversations of other patrons of the carriage. 

"I warned you it might not be a good idea to let Winry have that," Alphonse reminded her.

"Oh shush." Jordan balanced the watch on one knee, then clapped her hands together and tapped the watch lightly. As the blue light faded, she lifted the watch to her ear again. She grinned in satisfaction as she heard it ticking again, one tiny tap every second. "Ha, Winry must've just put one of the parts in the wrong place. It's all fixed." She smirked as she transmuted a few small, precise tools from the wall of the train carriage. "Now it's my turn." Jordan shrugged off her jacket, layed it across her lap, and flipped open the watch top, laying the tools on the cloth.

"Now I think that's even less of a good idea than letting Winry have it," Edward said skeptically.

Jordan shrugged. "Alchemy. Besides, I love to tinker with things and see if I can put them back together or not. Nine times out of ten, I can." She picked up one of the small instruments and began to fiddle with taking off the faceplate. "Don't trust me to get something done right?" Neither of the boys had an answer to that, so she said, "Thought so."

Within about half an hour, Jordan had a small assortment of odds and ends that made up the inside of a state alchemist's pocketwatch. Different springs and cogs were sorted on her jacket, and she held the now-empty watch casing in one hand. She inspected the dozen or so parts, then picked one up and began the process of putting the whole thing back together again.

"Do you really think that you're going to be able to put that together again right?" Ed asked, raising an eyebrow at the idea.

"Honestly...I have no idea," Jordan admitted. "Just wanna see if I can."

Jordan spent the better part of an hour trying to reconstruct her pocketwatch. She fumbled with the various pieces one at a time, while the brothers switched disinterestedly between watching her and looking out the window. Jordan took her time putting it back together, and was disappointed when it didn't work when she believed herself finished.

"Oh well," she concluded as she fixed it with alchemy again. She brought out a book instead.

About two o' clock that afternoon, the train screeched to a halt at the East City Station. They all gathered their few belongings and disembarked from the train, reveling in the newfound freedom that riding for six hours didn't allow.

"I can move again!" Jordan said, clasping her hands together and stretching her arms above her head. "For only fifteen minutes, granted, but still, I can move! And fresh air too. That's always a good thing."

The three took advantage of their fifteen minutes of freedom. There was another small outdoor bar near to the station, so Jordan and Ed pulled up a couple of stools. Al stood near to them, acting nonchalant.

Glancing around at her surroundings and conversing with the brothers about what Lexalin would be like, Jordan felt a tug on the chain of her watch, clipped to her belt and back in her pocket. She simply ignored it at first, thinking she imagined it.

"What do you think the homonculi could be doing in Lexalin?" Edward asked.

Jordan shrugged and twirled her straw around her near-empty glass. "I don't know. But we're going to have to be careful. They've already decided they like me, remember? If they are there, then-" There came the pull on her chain again, more persistent. She slapped her hand down over the chain to feel...somebody's fingers under her hand?

She closed her hand immediately around the other, and whipped around to see a wiry young man, maybe only about seventeen, with his fingers closed about her watch chain. He stared at her sheepishly, ashamed he'd been caught.

"So...you're thinking you could pick my pocket, huh?" She inquired conversationally, letting the man's hand go.

Ed and Al watched curiously, wondering what Jordan was planning to do with the culprit.

"Not very intelligent, are you?" Jordan pushed the guy back onto the ground and transmuted several rings of hard stone over his shoes. She knelt down to him and muttered just loud enough for the man to hear, "You don't try to steal from an alchemist." She dumped the last of her drink over the guy's head and walked away, murmuring something along the lines of "stupid bastard" and ignoring the stares of the other people who had seen her. The brothers got up and followed, exchanging surprised glances.

The train whistled shortly thereafter, reminding the group that they were on a time limit. In fact, it was a one-minute time limit now. As Edward and Alphonse recognized the significance of the whistle and began running ahead. Jordan, thinking they had a bit more time, stared after them with a slightly puzzled expression. The boys didn't seem to notice. It took a moment for it to register in Jordan's mind that they had less than sixty seconds to get there, but when it did, she darted off at the fastest speed her legs would take her.

"Where the hell were you?" Ed demanded as she hopped through the door just before it closed, almost crashing into the brothers in the process.

"Let's just say I can't comprehend sound effects like whistles perfectly every time, okay?" Jordan shrugged, laughed, then dropped herself into her seat and dug up a book again.

Several hours and another train switch later, Jordan, Ed, And Al were on the final train that would lead them to Lexalin. It would continue on throughout the next day with no stops, and so they would be there the day after the next. Being on the train that long wasn't appealing to any of the three, but it was necessary. Jordan just hoped her books and drawings would keep her entertained long enough.

Apparently, her drawing wouldn't keep her entertained throughout the whole night. She fell asleep at about ten o' clock laying across the seat, leaning against the side with her sketchbook propped up against her knees. She had still been secretive about what she was drawing, a bit to the annoyance of the natural curiosity of her friends.

Ed and Al quietly discussed the homonculi's presence in Lexalin, keeping their voices low so as not to attract attention or wake up the sleeping girl. The conversation having been quiet and simply a way to keep the atmosphere not entirely silent, it was interrupted when a single sheet of paper slid back from Jordan's sketchbook and covered the drawing she had been working on when she fell asleep. From where he was sitting, Edward could see a portion of the top drawing...and it looked like...Alphonse?

He stood up and quietly stepped up to Jordan to see the picture. What he saw startled him.

Jordan had indeed, drawn Alphonse. But, it wasn't just the armor-bodied Al that they thought she knew. The picture had Al, both as his human self and his armor body, standing back to back. She had drawn them from the chest up, and there was amazing detail in the expressions on each. Human and armor, the picture suggested Al's often serious nature, but also his underlying innocence. The whole drawing suggested Jordan had put a lot of her time into it.

"Hey Al, come look at this," Edward beckoned, surprised but not displeased.

"Come take a look at what?" Jordan asked sleepily, opening her eyes partway. She hadn't been fully asleep, merely dozing, and so had stirred awake when Ed had talked so close to her. Edward jumped back, having not expected her to wake up.

"I-It's nothing," he stammered out, trying not to make it obvious he'd been sneaking a peek at her supposed-to-be-secret drawings.

"Are you sure?" Jordan asked, raising an eyebrow. She felt the paper of her Alphonse drawing rustling against her hands (she had still been holding her book even while sleeping), and she sat up and confirmed that it had fallen over. It only took a second to connect the dots. "Oh, you saw that, huh?"

Ed nodded somewhat sheepishly. Jordan shrugged. "Oh well. It's not a big deal. However-" She swiftly shut the sketchpad and snapped the hard cardboard backing against the elder brother's head,"-Shouldn't I be able to trust you?"

He winced and looked away, absently rubbing the spot he'd been struck. Jordan laughed.

"Here Al, I'm sure you want to see it too?" She asked indifferently to the younger, who had been quiet up until now. Flipping back to her drawing, she gently handed Al the sketchpad.

Alphonse marveled at the drawing for a few moments before asking quietly, "How did you know?"

"There are a lot of things you don't know that _I_ know," Jordan answered lowly. "As for that one, there was a picture sitting up in the room I slept in at the Rockbell's." Another lie, and counting. "I put things together, bit by bit." She took back her sketchbook and slid it back into her bag, beside her pencil. "Like I said, I know a lot and you don't even know it." With that, she laid back and rolled onto her side, her back to the brothers. Within minutes she was asleep again, leaving Edward and Alphonse in wonder.

_Tad short, but that's okay, right? Review please!_


	13. Appearance in Lexalin

_Updating as fast as possible...but my dad's laptop's been at his friend's in hopes of having it fixed, so I haven't been able to use that in a long time..._

_Anyway, for those of you who were thinking that picture of Al was the big one...wrong! There's actually a different one that won't be revealed for awhile yet. I want your guesses on it in your reviews, if you don't mind. :P _

Dancing Nightmare: Hey hey hey, relax, I won't steal your book. I'm not that evil...Well, yes I am, but I'll not do anything. As for the picture...well, there's actually a different picture that's going to be revealed later. So there. :P I know the last chapter was a bit boring, but it was more of a filler than anything. It should hopefully be a little more interesting in this chapter. A pickpocket bad at picking pockets...yeah. I actually thought about that walking home from my bus stop once; I was just playing with the chain to my watch and suddenly thought of that. :3

Celedeen Tachibana: Thank you. Thank you very much. :3

Shiriko Matsuhisa: Yeah, I s'pose Jordan is lucky. That makes me lucky, because I can actually draw Al in his armor too (as long as I have something to work from). Never tried his body, but never had a reason to. Careful when you try...having bandaged hands makes it more difficult. I'm glad I rock.

Liah Cauthon: I'm glad you like this. :3 'Tis a good thing you can almost see the picture of Al. I might draw that sometime...That'll be easier, I think, then trying to draw the crispy-fried Roy.

Naoko-Miharu: I'm learning to draw professional manga. Yay me! I'm...partway there. I can do stuff pretty well, but I'm still working on poses and whatnot. And hands. Hands are a pain in the rear to draw. Anyway...Yeah, I know the last chapter was a bit short. I just had some evil writer's block and couldn't get ANYTHING more on there at all. Yup, that was a stupid pickpocket. We're going to go with the reasoning that he didn't know Jordan was a state alchemist and he didn't realize exactly what it was he was trying to steal at the time. I don't know if train rides are usually so long in FMA, but for the purpose of my fic, this one will be. Don't worry, you didn't write too much. Yay for ranting!

Wandering Hitokiri: Thanks! Yes, that was a stupid pickpocket indeed.

Purple Ghost Sausage: You might be able to see the drawing...It just might become my new project off-line. I just need to get some pictures so I know exactly what I should look for in details...Ahem. Now that I think about it, Edward being hit with a sketchpad IS a very amusing image. Cool!

GobiKitsune: You found me! Yay! Be careful when being the only one to applaud, it's an odd moment. :P

**Dragon: Depressed again...**

_**Ed and Al are still bound as they were previous, though at least Ed's chair has been put back upright.**_

**Ed: So we're still stuck like this for awhile, right?**

**Al: Again? What for?**

**Dragon: The stupid Gamestop stores have bad timing. At the time I don't have any money, they decide to have a special where I could trade in my old Gameboy Advance SP for $50 toward a DS. Stupid Gamestop!**

**Ed: You obsess over your video games way too much. There's something wrong with you.**

**Dragon: Shush. **

**_On an impulse, Dragon undoes the ropes and leaves to be depressed elsewhere, entirely forgetting the disclaimer._**

**Al: ...She forgot again...**

**Ed: Who cares if she forgot to admit she owns nothing but her character! Freedom!**

**Dragon: #from elsewhere# Don't be getting ideas!**

* * *

"Well, I can't say I was expecting anything super-grand or anything, but..." Jordan swept her gaze over the town of Lexalin as the train worked its way into the horizon of the late-morning, leaving behind the only three people who had actually wanted to come all the way out here, and had been the only ones to ride. 

Lexalin was a rather plain-looking place. Regular squared buildings neatly lined the packed-down streets, and a few people milled around completing their well-rehearsed duties. Despite the neatness and hard work the town gave off, there was a sense of slapstick construction and lower-standard living too that made Jordan a bit uneasy.

"So, where should we start?" Edward asked.

"Look around," Jordan responded. "We'll want to know what the town's like, especially if we're going to be here for a week or two. We can find an inn later. For now, we could probably ask around, see if anybody knows anything."

"And what are we supposed to say to these people?" Ed scoffed. " 'Seen a guy with green hair? A woman who can stretch her fingers, perhaps? Or maybe a short guy who can eat anything?' "

Jordan gave him one of those 'be quiet and stop with the sarcasm, because it's stupid' looks that she gave to many a person and often received in return. "No. At least, that's not my plan, yours if you want it." She pulled out her sketchbook and flipped it to a back page. "I took fifteen minutes of my time and sketched this up." She turned it to show Ed and Al the page. It was divided into three sections, and each section had a chest-up shot of one of the three homonculi that they were most likely to find: Envy, Lust, and Gluttony. The drawings were quick and sketchy, but were recognizable.

"So, we can show these to the people we ask?" Alphonse inquired.

"Yup," Jordan agreed. "We can ask around first, and actually look for ourselves if we turn up something or not."

A young boy, who couldn't be more than maybe ten years old, spotted the travelers conversing their course of action. He shifted the work tools he had been carrying over his shoulder and ran over to them.

"Hey, hey!" He yelled, running up toward them. "Are you tourists?"

"Not tourists, per say-" Jordan started, but it was too late; the boy was already excited.

"So much for a peaceful entrance," Ed commented blandly. Other people began looking around, and focusing their attention on the band of friends.

Jordan flipped her sketchpad closed again and tucked it under her arm. "Kid, please, don't make a scene, we're just here on some business-"

"You really should stay at my family's inn!" The boy began chatting animatedly, grabbing Jordan's wrist and trying to pull her off somewhere into the town. "It's great to have people come to town, we haven't had anyone in a long time-"

"Please let me go," Jordan said calmly, planting her feet so she wouldn't be taken anywhere. Ed and Al watched, not moving to offer any help.

"-And we really could use the tourism-"

"Let go of me."

"-I think you'll find the family inn a good place for you and your friends to stay-"

"Let the hell go of me," Jordan said, her patience thinning quickly.

However, still not catching the hint, the boy continued. "-So why are you three here in Lexalin any-" Before he could finish that part of his elongated sentence, Jordan sighed, grabbed the boy's arm, and twisted out of his grasp and him into hers. She grabbed his shoulder with her other hand and stared him straight in the eye.

"Look," she began, "We are simply here on some business. We weren't looking for an inn to begin with, but we will later. When that time comes, I'll consider it. Okay? But for now, I'd like for us to continue our business without attracting any attention. Alright?" She let the boy go and sent him on his way. Despite having just been told to bug off, he seemed to be in a rather good mood anyway.

"Well, you couldn't have been nicer about that," Ed said dryly, more than a tone of sarcasm in his words.

"I'm _not_ a people person," Jordan responded airily, trying to find her lost page again. When she did, she held it up and said, "Now come on, we have some investigating to take care of and a town to become familiar with."

Before they could set off, several people began coming from their shops around the town and calling to the group as they passed, attempting shows of hospitality or convincing the party to buy some of their wares. It was obvious they hadn't had any visitors in Lexalin for quite a while, maybe even a couple years or more.

"Miss, please, come by my store! We have everything to make you look as beautiful as ever!"

"I resent that..." Jordan said dryly to that comment.

"You look like travelers! Come by here, we have everything you need for the road!"

"Stop by here if you're hungry! We have the best food in town!"

Unfortunately, Edward and Jordan had both made the mistake of leaving off their coats because, despite it being only early spring and still being chilly, they had felt it too warm. There were automail craftsmen in Lexalin, and strangely were accosting both Jordan and Ed. And Al too, due to a simple mistake.

"Sir, I see you have some fine automail," a somewhat muscular man commented to Ed. "But all good automail needs repairing and maintenance. Please, come by my shop, I'll fix you up right!"

"So I take it you hate being in towns with automail suppliers?" Jordan asked with a smirk as Edward waved the man off. The man moved onto Alphonse, who was being hounded by some mechanics himself from the belief he was in full body automail.

"Yes. I get targeted way too easily," Ed answered.

Another woman came up to Jordan and spotted the gloves she was wearing, which Jordan had transmuted from her old fingerless ones for the cooler weather. "Miss, do you perhaps have any automail you need taken care of?"

Jordan followed the woman's gaze, then held up her hands and made peace signs with her fingers. "Nope. I'm all skin and bone, at least in construct. Maybe not physical shape, but in what I'm made of, yeah." She held up her sketchbook. "Seen anybody like one of these three, though?"

Slightly confused at being told no to the automail and having a page of profiles suddenly shoved at her, the woman could only shake her head no. Jordan thanked her, and moved onto the others, who were eventually dispersed by Jordan's odd out-of-the-blue question and Edward's lowly-muttered threat to start using some seriously dangerous alchemy.

They spent several hours asking around Lexalin, showing the pictures to different people and being advertised at by an equal amount of overly friendly welcomes and such. From person they asked they got the same answer: "No, haven't seen anyone like that." Neither did they see any sign for themselves that any one homonculus was in the town. Of course, that didn't mean they weren't hiding or elsewhere at the time, as Al pointed out.

"Ugh, it's five o' clock. We've been asking around since about noon, and gotten nothing," Jordan sighed, clicking her watch shut and putting it away. She snapped her book closed and put it in her bag, tired of seeing the drawings after five hours.

"Nothing besides offers for thousands of stores," Edward added bitterly.

"Maybe we'll have more luck tomorrow?" Al said, ever the hopeful optimist.

"Don't mention tomorrow..." Jordan pleaded. Her stomach growled loudly suddenly. "Hm, guess I'm hungry. We should probably try to find that inn to stay at now."

A large wooden sign creaked overhead. Drawn to the noise, the three looked up. In faded red paint were the words "Lex Inn". Simultaneously, they followed the short metal pole holding it up back to a two-story building, the door to which being five feet away.

"Found it," Ed said, forming a small smirk.

They went inside, and it seemed as soon as the door opened into the plain room all eyes were on them. It was an eerie calm, and was broken when a tall, muscular man wearing an apron came out of a swinging door that presumably led to the kitchen. When he spotted the three alchemists standing in confusion in the doorway, he burst out in welcome.

"Welcome to the Lex Inn!" He bellowed. "What can I do ya for?"

"Food and a couple rooms," Jordan answered wearily. Ed and Al nodded in agreement.

"See Pop? I told you we finally had some visitors to Lexalin!" A familiar young boy's voice called. Jordan looked toward the source of the sound and groaned inwardly. It was the same kid that had tried to take her to his family's inn that morning. Obviously, they had stumbled over to the same place he was talking about.

They were ushered to a table and the man left to go back into the kitchen. All of ten minutes later (filled with questions being answered and Jordan trying to keep down her temper as people refused to leave them alone) he came back out with three plates of food and glasses of water balanced on a large tray. The man set them down individually in front of the three. Jordan picked absently at a piece of bread and Edward dove into his meal with gusto. Al didn't have much room to do anything as somebody else asked him about his armor.

"So what are the three of you doing in a lonely little town like this?" The man asked, throwing a towel over his shoulder. "It's been a long time since anybody's bothered to come all the way out here."

"Business," Ed answered around a mouthful of food.

"We're told that there's been some trouble around here, and we're here to check it out," Alphonse clarified.

"Well, you're right about the trouble," the host said, taking up a chair and sitting in it backwards to face them. "Somebody's been stirring up a lot of trouble around here. Stores and homes have been broken into, there's been some damage done to property, and we can't even figure out who it is."

The friends exchanged glances. So it was true.

"Colonel Mustang was right," Jordan muttered, more to herself than anyone (she had a habit of talking to herself). "The homonculi probably are here then."

" 'Colonel' Mustang?" Somebody next to her overheard her quiet musings and bolted at the sound of a military title. "You're part of the military?" The room, full of muted conversation and clattering dishes, fell silent immediately.

Jordan mentally cursed her stupidity in having said anything out loud. After a few moments of uncomfortable quiet, she finally snapped. "Yes. Fine. We're alchemists. Happy?" When she was still met with no response, she added, "Guess not." Not thinking much of it, she reached for her glass, only to find it immediately swiped from her reach by the manager.

"Hey, what gives?" She demanded. "I'm paying!"

"We don't enjoy having state alchemists around here," he answered briskly. Ed stopped eating to look up, aware that this concerned him too.

"We haven't done anything!" Jordan protested hotly. "Why should we be punished on account of stupid stereotyping?"

"Around here, we will serve state alchemists," the manager continued, "But not you."

Jordan paused. "Why not me? What the hell is wrong with me? What, is my hair too long for your liking?" She leaped to her feet and planted her hands firmly on the table, glaring at the man.

"Women don't belong in the military."

She let this sink in for a few seconds. Then: "Well that's just sexist."

"That's not fair!" Ed yelled, jumping up. "She's done nothing wrong! What's to say she's not equal to men in _anything?_"

"You can't just say that! Plenty of women do well in the military!" Al shouted in agreement.

The man turned on them both. "Would the two of you like to join her? The girl is no longer welcome. The two of you will be next if you continue to contradict our judgment."

"Guys, just back off," Jordan said quietly. "Don't take the heat from me being female." She kicked her chair back against the table and slapped enough money to pay for her half-eaten meal onto the hardened wood before turning and leaving. Al and Ed exchanged concerned looks.

Outside, Jordan pulled on her coat and leaned against the door frame. "So...should I take my chances elsewhere and get kicked out, or make a tent and sleep outdoors?" She wondered aloud to herself after a couple of minutes evaluating her options.

"Neither, I made a deal with this guy," a voice responded from nowhere. Jordan jumped in surprise, lost her balance, and fell backwards against the source of the voice.

"Oh...sorry Edward," she apologized when she found herself held up in the equally startled blonde's arms. She coughed and straightened herself quickly, hoping the fading light wasn't enough to reveal her blush. "Care to explain what you mean?"

"It took a little convincing, but he eventually said that you could probably work off staying here," Ed informed her. "This inn's been falling apart and they've been running low on people to help keep it in shape."

"Well, that's not quite as good as simply paying, but I guess if it gets people to accept my existence," Jordan rolled her eyes, then smiled. "Thanks."

Edward couldn't help but return the smile. He wasn't sure why exactly, but it was a nice feeling to see her happy again.

_Whew, I'm glad I finally got this done. Reward me and review please!_


	14. Another Meeting

_Ugh...man, stupid school, and stupid no motivation to write my Zelda fic...All the better for you guys who enjoy this one though, right?_

Naoko-Miharu: Yeah, I can't stand some of those sexist people who are actually still around. Oh well. Yeah, blowing up imaginary schools is kinda fun. I've done that numerous times to my school in my head. :3 Salespeople who do that are annoying, which is precisely why I put them in my last chapter; I wanted to be annoying, as usual. Hands are a pain while drawing. One of these days when I'm not feeling lazy, I'll look up those pictures of yours. Heh.

Dancing Nightmare: Don't kill anybody. I know you're angry, but that's not a very good reason...Sort of. I don't think that the people in Lexalin would be that dense to an event like that. It might take an extra day or two to reach them, but, ya know, it's not that bad. Heh.

Shiriko Matsuhisa: Yeah, sexist people are idiots. I don't like 'em either. :P But, hey, what can ya do, eh? Thank you!

Shiori Kurokase: But...random stalker readers are really fun! I didn't know I was doing a recreation of a place...I thought I made up the name Lexalin! Or...are you talking about that little mining town? #shrug# Whatever. Thanks!

Celedeen Tachibana: Well, here ya go. Here's that next chapter.

Pink-kiss-candy: You're not stupid. You're just forgetful, like me. :) Anyway, onto business. Yeah, to tell the truth, I don't really think Envy's a fag either. I don't really like that name, and I agree that he does move the plotline along a lot. And he is sorta a sympathetic character too. I'm glad you like my OC. She's exactly me, so yay, I'm loved! No anorexia for me, and whatnot. Heh.(Seriously, I will admit that while I'm not bad, I could be in better shape.)

Taisa's Fire Angel07: Nah, the manager's not Envy. I never even thought of that until you mentioned it. However, you're helping me to get an idea or two, though. Yeah, I guess Edward was kinda sweet at the. Figured that all out on your own, didja? Hee hee. Just kidding.

Purple Ghost Sausage: Yup, stupid sexists. Ed was sweet, that's what I was going for, blah blah blah...

Wandering Hitokiri: Alright, no killing my manager. I don't like him myself, but I need him alive for...management purposes.

Red Energy Alchemist: When writing a review, all you have to say is "This rocks". :) Nah, I'm kidding. I'm working on updating as fast as I can, but I've got two stories and stuff...Yeah.

**Dragon: #staring at a computer screen, her head in her hands # I'm not going 'til I get this...**

**Ed: Get what?**

**Dragon: #doesn't look up# This stupid math-logic problem. A friend posted it online and I haven't been able to get it for an hour.**

**Al: #looks over her shoulder# That is weird...#discreetly holds up a sign behind his back saying "Dragon doesn't own FMA, just Jordan as herself"#**

**Dragon: Sad thing is, this is really obvious and I know it, I just can't figure it out...**

* * *

"Ow! Watch that!" 

"Sorry Ed. Say, that didn't break, did it? I've got enough to fix."

"No. No worries about me though, huh?"

"A lightbulb isn't going to crack your skull! C'mon, hand it back up. Standing on my tiptoes on a chair is beginning to hurt."

Ed handed up the lightbulb to Jordan again, and she screwed it into place in the socket in the ceiling. It flickered into life, and she had to squint as she carefully put the small glass dome over the bulb and worked each of the three screws back into place (almost forever losing one as she nearly dropped it as she tried to get it out of her pocket). Satisfied with her work, Jordan hopped back down and hobbled slightly, having lost some flexibility after standing up on tiptoe so long.

"Man, coming back home to fix stuff after a day of futile searching really isn't what I'd call 'fun'," she groaned. It was true; they had taken another look around town, talking to victims of the trouble lately and seeing if they could get any clues. And after their third day of being in Lexalin, Ed, Al, and Jordan were getting exhausted of receiving nothing for their efforts.

"You're the one who insists on doing everything the hard way," Ed pointed out.

"Well, I just don't find as much satisfaction in doing everything with alchemy," she said. "Doing things the 'hard way' is more satisfying. Besides, if the town wants me working as an 'actual woman without a military job', I have to prove I'm useful. So I'm doing everything I can without alchemy."

That was something Edward actually found admirable about the girl. She had an easy way of doing anything and she chose to do it a different way just to prove she could, and because she'd actually rather do things harder.

Jordan glanced over at the radio sitting in the corner, droning some uninteresting news, as she pushed her chair away back against the wall. The simple light bulb switch she was doing was in one of the rooms of the inn, and judging by the thin layer of dust covering everything, it hadn't been used in awhile.

She put her hands on her hips and leaned back, trying to stretch an odd kink out of her spine. So far today, she'd manually fixed up the sign outdoors, cleaned up a few of the less used rooms, and repaired the legs of a chair. Not that she'd had any idea how to do some of these repairs that she'd been doing of late before she actually tried, of course. It was just simply her ability to think logically and figure out problems and their solutions.

'Man, am I ever going to enjoy sleep tonight', she thought.

Mid-way through her stretch, Jordan suddenly shot back up and doubled over forward, coughing hard. She leaned on one arm against the wall and continued her fit for several seconds. Ed started to move to see if she was alright, but could see nothing he could do. When she finished, she stood upright and said, "I'm OK."

"Are you sure?" Ed asked, appearing concerned. "That's been getting worse all day."

Jordan waved him off. "Yeah, I know. It's going to do that. I've been getting a bit of a cold. When I get a cold, I usually get a cough, and when I get a cough it gets really bad. I'll survive, somehow." As if to somehow prove her point, she suddenly turned her head away and sneezed three times in rapid succession.

"That still doesn't sound very good."

"Yes, I know. But like I said, I'll sur-" She stopped suddenly. "Be quiet." She darted to the radio in the corner and turned it up, not noticing as Alphonse entered the room as well.

"...And reports of yet another robbery have been received," the male voice over the radio droned at a new volume, thanks to Jordan's spin of the dial, "Where it appears that the culprit had finally been spotted. He's been described as a young man wearing a...skirt?...with long dark hair, and was seen mere minutes ago..."

"I think we've finally got a good lead guys," Jordan said with a grin, turning back toward the boys. There was a universal, unspoken agreement in the room to go quickly before it got too late. She reached for her jacket, sitting on the bed, then froze and doubled over in another fit of coughing. She came dangerously close to dropping to her knees before she finally finished.

"You're staying here," Al decided.

"What? No!" Jordan protested. "I'm fine." The way she coughed several times again completely contradicted her end of the argument.

Edward shook his head. "There's no way you can go. You could get hurt with these homonculi around if you're so sick."

"I'm not-"

"Yes you are." Ed and Al cut her off at the same time.

"Going? Thanks guys, told you I could-"

"No." Al stopped her again.

"Dang."

Ed pulled one of the gloves tighter on his hand. "Just stay here, and try to get some rest," he said. "And don't even think about trying to do a bunch of work instead."

Jordan rolled her eyes. "Sure you're only fourteen? You sound like my grandmother." She laughed. "Alright, fine. I'm on the-" She had to stop and cough a few more times, "-losing end here. I give. Just don't get yourselves killed."

A couple minutes later, she stood in the doorway to her room wearing forest green flannel pajamas, fiddling with one of the buttons as she saw off her friends. She felt horrible letting them go on their own, but they refused to let her go (and she'd tried another four times already). She said a stuffy good-bye, unable to speak clearly from her quickly worsening cold, then went to sit on her bed.

"Tch, yeah, as if I'm going to sit around while I still have stuff to get done," she scoffed, rebraiding her hair and fixing the chain to her necklace. She stood up, coughed again, sniffed in a pitiful attempt to breathe easier, then headed back out of her room down the hall to the older rooms she'd been trying to clean up, moving the radio to the next room of her choice and keeping it just loud enough for her to hear without attracting attention.

Yes, she would work in her pajamas. She could do it at home and she could do it here, too.

"So, where should I start with this one?" She wondered, putting her hands on her hips and surveying the array of boxes and falling-apart furniture. "Fix the furniture with alchemy, stack the boxes..." Aachoo! "Clean out all this freakin' dust 'cause it's not helping my cold..."

Half an hour later, several cardboard boxes were stacked against one wall, and she was working on fixing the furniture. She wished she could do it some other way, but she was tired now and besides that didn't know much about furniture repair. When the bed and desk and chairs were all in good order, she stood up and was plenty ready to retire for the night.

However, one thing was bugging her, and then she remembered that she needed to sweep out the room. She stepped out into the hallway and found the broom from earlier, then went back in, almost tripping over the radio in her haste.

"Dang, that thing's going to annoy me soon," she muttered, kicking the radio off to the side.

She began sweeping all the kicked-up dust into a pile on the floor, still listening to the very radio she had just almost tripped over.

"We are still investigating the cases of the property damage, however we are still unable to get any more clues..."

"Wonder how Ed and Al are doing...I'll kick their butts later for not letting me come..."

"It's hoped that soon we will be able to find more...Hold on, it seems we have some extra activity going on in the middle of town." Jordan slowed down her sweeping to listen. "A blonde-haired young man and a man dressed in a large suit of armor are out, seemingly fighting against another green-haired man...The blonde doesn't appear to be in a very good condition...What does he think he's doing out there?"

That broom hit the floor long after Jordan was out of the room.

Running back to her room and pausing for a time span of about five seconds to get her shoes on, she was taking the steps three at a time and skipped the last five as she bolted out the front door to the inn, not even caring about her state of dress or the stares people gave her as she ran.

"Dammit you two...I wanted to go with you but nooo...'You're too sick, you have to stay here'." She mimicked Ed's voice, making it sound extremely off due to her heavy breathing and stuffy nose. A thought suddenly struck her: Did she even know what part of town the fight was going on in? She cursed under her slighlty labored breath and forced herself to continue running.

The skies suddenly opened up, pouring down drenching rain. On any other day Jordan would have stayed outside and just stood in the rain for no good reason. Knowing that her friends were in danger, however, there was no stopping for anything like that. Somewhere ahead, she began to hear sounds of obvious scuffle. Yells and thuds. Cries that came mostly from Edward and Alphonse.

"There!" She gasped, trying to quicken her pace. The wet dirt forced her foot into an awkward direction and she slipped, falling straight to the ground.

"Damn it Edward!" She shouted at the top of her lungs to the heavens, sitting up on the ground and struggling to her feet. Her cries echoed back at her, mingling with the sounds of her thudding footsteps and pattering rain; nobody else was outside. "If you die before me I swear I'll never forgive you!"

--------------------

"Hm...Well, thanks anyway," Edward said courteously. He turned and hopped down the steps that led to the woman's house as the door slammed behind him. "Well, we know what we already did," he told his younger brother. "That it was probably Envy."

"Well, he couldn't have gotten very far, could he?" Alphonse asked. "After all, he was seen just a few minutes before we left, so it couldn't have been more than about ten minutes."

Ed nodded in agreement. "We should take another look around here. Maybe we could figure out where Envy went from here." He began looking around for any useful information; footprints, anything broken pointing the way, things in that manner. Alphonse joined into the search.

After awhile, they'd moved on to the opposite side of the street and still found nothing. Both of them were about ready to leave and give up when they heard a rustling sound in a side alley.

"Don't give up now, I wouldn't want to miss on the fun," a slithery voice said, painfully familiar to the two brothers. Envy stepped out from the shadows of the alley, wearing a triumphant smirk. Behind him came Lust and Gluttony.

"What do you want?" Ed hissed, assuming a defensive stance.

"Why have you been attacking this town?" Alphonse backed his brother.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Envy said, playing all the part of an innocent young man. "To find you and your little girlfriend, of course."

As soon as the word "girlfriend" passed his lips, Envy had to jump back to avoid being impaled through the stomach by a slab of sharpened stone. Ed stood up straight, looking rather enraged.

"You leave my friend out of this," He demanded.

"Somebody's a little bit touchy about a girl," Lust teased coolly.

Without any forward warning, Envy threw out a punch toward Edward, who barely managed to dodge out of the way. Then came a sweeping kick made to trip him up. Alphonse backed out of the way as the fight continued on like this for at least a minute.

Another several minutes passed as Ed turned onto the offensive, meaning to drive Envy back with alchemy. Stone and earth was displaced multiple times as he fought, and the area was looking more and more ragged...and so was he.

Ed quickly transmuted a blade from his automail arm. As soon as he did, something clicked out of place in the mechanics of his arm, and suddenly he was unable to move the limb correctly. The elbow joint was now stiff and rigid, effectively rendering his whole right arm useless.

"Hm, looks like an automail failure," Lust said.

"Brother!" Al cried. He tried to run to Ed's aid, but was stopped by almost running himself through the tips of Lust's sharp fingers.

Envy wasted no time. Ed suddenly took a heavy kick to the jaw, sending him flying back onto the ground. As he tried to get back on his feet, Envy was on him again. Edward took blow after blow, and Alphonse was held at bay by Lust and Gluttony.

Envy pinned him up against a brick wall, his strength holding back the struggling young alchemist at the throat. "There's nobody here to save you now," Envy said coldly, with a smirk plastered on his features. "Now, you do have a choice. You can still choose to help us create that Philosopher's Stone before we move onto your little friend."

"Damn it Edward!" A girl's voice rang out suddenly. "If you die before me I swear I'll never forgive you!"

Ed froze, his left hand scrabbling at the one of Envy's slowly cutting off his supply of air. Envy turned away to see where the voice was coming from.

Jordan came running up over the crest in the road, wearing dirt-splattered pajamas and a grim, determined smile. Seeing the scene before her, she stopped.

"Come on. Can't I leave you alone for half an hour without you getting killed?" She asked.

_Cliffie...Mneh. Review, if you don't mind._


	15. You Were In Trouble

_I don't have much to say...I used up all my witty comments for the Valentine's Day boxes I made..._

Dancing Nightmare: Wow, then your grandma sounds evil O.o Neh, whatever. Yeah, I don't like that "too sick to go" talk either; that's why I used it, because I hate it so much. Those are about the circumstances you have to be for my parents to let us stay home from school, too. Except we can stay if we're coughing like hell (which is my excuse more than the stomach flu).

Liah Cauthon: Really? That's pretty awesome. :) Go OCness! Yes! I shall attack the palm tree! Yay!

Shiori Kurokase: Ouch. I know your pain of getting in trouble during math class. Mr. Rose (my math teacher) keeps getting mad at me because I'm usually reading or working on a drawing during his class because I'm finished with my work ahead of the others, and then I don't stop what I'm doing right away (It does take a second or two for me to put a bookmark into my book after all!) when he starts talking again. Eh heh heh...Anyway, our little Lightning Dragon Alchemist will kick some butt here. Just have to see...

Shiriko Matsuhisa: Resist, please, I want to live and none of my characters need to die...Ahem. You know, I did notice that play of words before. It is rather amusing, isn't it? Yay! I rock. :) Anyway, you're spelling Jordan wrong...That's an 'a' in the second spot, not an 'o'. :3

Naoko-Miharu: I wear my pajamas outside all the time. :3 Granted, usually I'm just taking out the trash or something, but nonetheless I do go outside in my pajamas and it's kind of fun. No matter what, I would run anywhere in my pajamas, however, if I had to go save my friends. Hence the previous chapter's mad run. Ooh! Chibi foxes with ramen! I must draw some now. To the sketchbook! Later!

Celedeen Tachibana: Eew...Sorry for ya. At least my update made you feel a little better. :)

Wandering Hitokiri: Go Jordan/me go! Yaaayy!...Ahem. I'm sorry. Thanks for the awesomeness.

Taisa's Fire Angel07: ...What's so funny? I don't get it! Waaahh!

**Dragon: #sketching randomly in a sketchpad# Go away...**

**Ed: Not until you do the disclaimer.**

**Dragon: No. Go away.**

**Al: You have to do it.**

**Dragon: It's not like it hasn't been said multiple times already, sheesh. **

**Ed: Just do it...**

**Dragon: #throws her pencil at them# Fine. The only thing I own is my OC, a dirty yellow wristband that says "Fullmetal Alchemist", and a replica cosplay pocket watch. Go away!...And please give me my pencil back.**

* * *

Envy grinned evilly. "So...I guess I won't have to look for you after all, will I? You just delivered yourself right into our hands." 

Jordan said something in Japanese that would be pointless to translate as it would have to be censored anyway. However, it was quite obviously an insult meant to the homonculi.

"Like hell that's going to work," she hissed, trying to discern which shadowy form was who. Between the continual sheet of falling rain and the water that had already gathered on her glasses, she couldn't tell. The only particularly obvious one was Al, because he was the tallest of them all. And Edward, because he was the shortest.

"Damn," she whispered under her breath and took off her glasses. Without drops of water hanging literally in front of her eyes, she could see considerably better. "I'm gonna have to get contacts, honestly."

It struck the brothers as odd how calm she was acting, despite three homonculi standing out there just plotting a way to attack. In reality, Jordan could swear her heart was jumping somewhere between her throat and her stomach. She was scared, there was no getting around it.

"Jordan...get out..." Still pinned by Envy, Ed couldn't finish a complete sentence despite his most valiant efforts.

"I've already run out here in my pajamas Ed, what makes you think I'm leaving now?" Jordan slid her glasses in the pocket of her pants. "Girls can fight too."

Envy released his grip on the young alchemist, letting Ed drop to the ground against the wall and fighting to regain some of his lost breath. Gluttony instead took over his place as Envy moved out toward Jordan, who was doing her best not to show any fear. She was unsure of how it was working.

"Well, I guess you can take the place of your friend here for what we need to do," the homonculus said in a slithery voice.

Jordan assumed a ready stance, her hands poised to clap for alchemy. "What would that be?"

"You know about...the Philosopher's Stone? Don't you?"

"Of course. You don't expect me to actually create that for you, do you?"

"Well, if you need to be convinced." Envy shrugged nonchalantly, then closed the several foot gap between him and her and kicked out, aiming for her chest. Jordan tried to raise a wall of rock but wasn't fast enough to do anything. She was sent flying into a couple of trash cans on the other side of the road, and lay unmoving.

"Jordan!" Alphonse yelled. He tried to go see if she was okay, but Lust held was in front of him and very good at blocking. Her nails were held up at the top of his chestplate, and if he tried to move forward at all they could pierce straight through and to the back of where his neck would be, straight into his blood seal.

Ed struggled to his feet, leaning against the brick wall for support. When he looked up he met the steady, hungry gaze of Gluttony, almost making him jump back into the wall, startled as he was.

"Lust, oh Lust, may I eat him?" Gluttony begged, turning toward the willowy woman in front of Alphonse.

"No Gluttony, we need to keep him alive," Lust responded. Gluttony slowly and regretfully backed away from Edward, though stayed ready just in case something had to be done.

A rustling came from the trash cans Jordan had been thrown into. Secretly, she hoped nobody had noticed. It was unfortunate she had landed on her back, it only made a new plan of action difficult.

As soon as she made the first clatter, she stopped, listening to see if anybody was coming. It was silent; her actions were muted slightly by the thundering of the rain. Slowly, still keeping her senses tuned to listen, she moved onto her side. There, she clapped her hands as silently as possible and pressed them to a messy pile of wood underneath her, shielding the blue light with her body. She pulled up a bow and a single arrow.

Her plan was going to be creative, but hopefully work to her advantage.

Next, she had to make a way out. She couldn't just get up. But it had to be fast, and it had to be distracting while she got away.

Jordan clapped her hands loudly and leaned back so the blue light that resulted from a transmutation in the ground shone brightly, then kicked one of the cans and escaped down her alchemically created hole with her bow and arrow. Even as she closed up the entrance again she could hear footsteps and loud clatters.

"Where did she go?" Envy's voice demanded. "She couldn't just vanish!"

After that she heard quiet laughter, nothing more than a chuckle really. As she hid down her hole, the tunnel she'd made leading into yet another alley beckoned, but she didn't move. Something warm trickled down the side of her head and down her jaw; she didn't have to see to know it was blood.

"Jordan's a crafty one, you have to admit," Ed's voice drifted down to her. Jordan couldn't help but smile. "The way she is, it's a distinct possibility that she did disappear."

"You'd best be quiet," Envy snapped. Jordan heard a blunt thud and a groan of pain, then another, and another. Another yell from Alphonse. She decided it better to be moving now.

She scrabbled through her pitch black tunnel and emerged into another alleyway. She transmuted a ladder from the wall of the building and climbed up onto the roof as stealthily as she could, carrying her weapons.

At the top of the roof, she had a perfectly clear sight of the field below. She bit her lip to hold back a gasp, and tasted something salty on her skin, though she hardly noticed. Ed was laying crumpled on the ground, moving only slightly. Envy towered over him. Alphonse had finally snapped and stopped holding still, fighting desperately past Lust to reach his older brother. Gluttony stood somehow in the middle of this all, gazing dumbly at all the action.

"Hey Envy," Jordan whispered, notching her single arrow and pulling the bowstring tight. "Heads up." She loosed the arrow toward its intended target.

Envy gasped out as the arrowhead dug into his shoulder blade, forcing him to lose balance and pitch forward. He caught himself just in time, but he couldn't move well. He glanced over to see the shaft and the fletching of the arrow protruding from his shoulder.He followed the angle up to Jordan, leaning on her bow and waving to him.

"Hi Envy!" She said. "Hey, guess what usually comes with a big storm like this?" She gestured to the black sky, still pouring down rain. When the homonculus didn't answer, she did for him. "Lightning." She clapped her hands and sent a streak of lightning tearing down toward Envy. It struck, and he was shoved back into the middle of the road, away from Ed.

"Ed! Edward! Damn it, answer me!" Jordan transmuted half a flight of stairs and ran down, then wound up jumping the rest of the way. Al pushed past Lust, and Jordan blocked her and Gluttony off with transmuted blocks of earth before kneeling down next to the injured blonde.

"Brother! Brother, come on, wake up!" Al begged of the older.

Jordan gently turned Ed onto his back, examining for any wounds. Blood caked the side of his head and matted his bangs, and she could tell his automail arm was in terrible repair. His clothing was ripped in a few different places.

"Is he okay?" Al demanded to know, his voice heavily laden with concern.

She shook her head, not sure. "I don't know. Give me a second," she snapped. Her tone surprised Al, but he could understand she didn't mean it.

Jordan pressed two fingers of one hand to Edward's neck and lowered her head. She could discern shallow breathing, and a faint but steady pulse. She let out a heavy breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding.

"He's okay, he's just out," she breathed. "But we have to get him attention soon. Soon as in now. He's pretty bad." She gingerly touched the wet crimson blood on the side of his face. Her stomach lurched. Jordan could stand the sight of blood. She lived in a family with two younger siblings, and injured herself often. Now, the sight of blood on such a handsome face, and so much...that was what she couldn't.

"Come on Ed, no dying on me. I said I'd never forgive you if you died before me, remember?" Jordan said weakly, though she knew he couldn't hear her. Tears formed in her eyes, though she blinked them back defiantly. Her friend was hurt, and she couldn't do anything about it. "Al, come on. Remember that doctor we found yesterday? He's not far from here, and we need to-"

"You're not going to be going anywhere right now," Envy snarled from behind them. Jordan and Al whipped around to see the homonculus struggling to his feet, reaching back for the arrow still implanted in his shoulder blade. "In fact, you're going to stay here for us."

"No I'm not. My best friend is in need of medical attention."

Jordan took a punch to the jaw for this smart remark. Envy pulled out the arrow and splintered the shaft in his fist, showing no sign of pain. Gluttony and Lust didn't show themselves, luckily. Perhaps they'd gone already. Jordan wouldn't miss them, that was for sure.

"Damn it Envy, just get the hell out of here!" Jordan stood up carefully, gaining a stance to protect Ed from harm.

"Now why would I do that?" Envy asked innocently, letting the arrow pieces fall from his hand to clatter on the dirt. "I already offered to let you help us create the Philospher's Stone. Why don't you be a good little girl and help us with it already?"

Jordan stepped forward. "Al, keep Ed safe. Don't worry about me." To Envy she said, "I don't want to help you with it. Plain and simple. It would take lives, lives of innocent people, human beings. There are better things I could do with my time."

She shifted her position a little bit and held her hands close together. "Honestly. I'm not stupid, contrary to the popular belief." She clapped her hands and sent another bolt of lightning to strike the ground directly in front of Envy. "I'm really not."

Envy rushed in at her suddenly, attacking violently. Jordan couldn't perform more alchemy, she was too busy blocking. Even at this she was failing. She took multiple hits, and Envy knew what he was doing. Her knees buckled underneath her after only a minute, from a couple of well-placed jabs.

Jordan tried to stumble back to her feet. However, what Edward had told her before was painfully correct. She began coughing again, and hard. Already injured, she couldn't move from her fit. She was down on her knees and unable to stand.

The homonculus didn't bother wasting any time. Envy was in on her again, kicking and punching, and Jordan was thrown against the wall. With a groan, she slid down to the ground. More warmth flowed down the back of her head, her neck, soaking the collar of her shredding shirt. It felt like she had been cut in the side. She couldn't tell anymore.

"Damn...Envy, that hurt," she muttered. "But that's it." There was just enough energy left in her body to force herself to stand. She clapped her hands multiple times, over a dozen at least, and each one was a new bolt of lightning that struck Envy. When she was finished, he was burned severely. A normal human would have been dead long ago.

A light flicked on in one of the houses, and anxious voices were heard murmuring inside. Envy grimaced. "This isn't over yet," he growled, then ran off into the alleys again. He didn't plan to be coming back here soon.

"Jordan! Are you okay?" Al asked.

"I have...No idea." Jordan limped over to Ed. "Come on, we have t-to get...Edward to that...doctor..." With an amazing show of strength, she carefully picked up the boy and pulled him up onto her back. She actually intended to carry him the whole way.

"Jordan, don't, you're too weak! You could hurt yourself more!"

"What the heck am I supposed to do otherwise!" Jordan demanded, doing her best not to stumble. "He...He needs to get there, and..." She couldn't really finish her sentences anymore. Al was right, she was too weak. However, she refused to give up. Her friend would get help, no matter what.

A large building came into view over the crest in the road. A sign hung from the door, though the words couldn't be made out.

"There it is!" Jordan cried weakly. She tried to speed up but her legs wouldn't let her. She almost tripped over her own feet and was actually caught by Al.

"What were you thinking!" Al demanded. "You knew you weren't in any condition to come out in the first place!"

"I don't care. I knew you were in trouble." Jordan hissed as a sharp pain dug into the back of her neck. "Ow..."

Al supported her on his arm the rest of the way up to the building, and she was grateful. It was all she could do just to keep her eyes open and her consciousness there. Al pounded on the door. Luckily there were people still awake; lights were on in the windows.

A gruff man opened the door. He looked irritated.

"Hey, don't you know how late it is?" He asked.

"Sir, please..." Jordan's voice failed her. When the man saw her and the boy she was carrying on her back, he started.

"What in the world happened to you two?" He wanted to know.

Jordan just shook her head. "It's...just...Man, does it look like we're okay? I don't even know who's blood is who's anymore, and...urgh..." The last thing she was really aware of was the ground rushing to meet her and strong arms catching her as she fell.

-----

_Cliffie, no? #shrug# I don't know. Review please! I don't know why I'm reminding you..._


	16. Keep the Blood

_Not many of you reviewed...I'm sad...Got a funny feelin'...You don't love me anymore...  
_

Shiori Kurokase: Aww...Thanks! I didn't know anybody wished they could write like me. In fact nobody wants to do anything like me...#crickets chirp# Ahem. Anyway. Don't worry, for the well being of Jordan and Edward shall be...erm...revealed?

Dancing Nightmare: Look for you happy place...Find your happy place...Your happy place is a good place to be...Anyway. Glad you liked the last chapter so much! I didn't think it'd come out so well, myself. I'm terrible at writing action chapters. #sweatdrops# It shall continue, however. Whoopie!

Celedeen Tachibana: Thank you for saying it was a great chapter. You make me feel special, especially when you're bothering to write your review when your computer's all messy when you could have some other time. :)

Wandering Hitokiri: Yes. Don't get on my/Jordan's bad side (it's confusing having a self OC!). Thanks! I'm glad 'tis awesome.

**Dragon: I feel lazy. My sugar rush is dying and everyone's concerned about Jordan and Ed's well being, so I'll just say now I don't own FMA and just myself. There. Now I can write. #cracks knuckles#**

* * *

It seemed quite like an eternity before Jordan's mind even began thinking of regaining consciousness. When she finally did awake, all her memories were faded. She couldn't move either; all her muscles felt stiff and and it felt as if something were binding across her chest and stomach. 

Sight. She needed to try opening her eyes. Slowly, Jordan made an attempt. Her eyelids were heavy, and she still was tired, but she did manage.

It appeared she was in some sort of hospital room, laying on a bed. The walls were white, and there were cabinets in various places. A woman worked around in the room, moving things from one place to another and reorganizing others. An IV needle was connected to her left wrist, and Jordan suddenly felt happy she was out during that part.

Talking. That's what Jordan needed to do next. Try to say a word, anything.

Ask what's going on, that's what she'd do. She opened her mouth and attempted to form a single word. Nothing worked; her tongue felt thick and fuzzy, she couldn't speak correctly.

Vainly, Jordan tried to sit up against the pillows she rested her head on. As she did, a sharp pain shot through her side and her head, and she groaned and collapsed again. That wasn't going to work well.

'Well this sucks,' she thought, at lack of any other things to think of. 'Now if I could remember what the heck I'm doing here.'

"Oh, you're finally awake!" The woman's voice was laced with concern. "I'm glad to see you're okay."

"What happened?" Jordan asked, her voice suddenly back. "I can't remember a thing."

"You've been out for a couple of days," the nurse replied. "Ever since you came in the middle of the night a few days ago with those boys."

Jordan took a few seconds to digest this information. Then it clicked. The fight with the homonculi. She'd carried Ed out to the small town hospital and . . . Her eyes widened and she almost bolted straight up, but the pains kept her back, so she settled for propping herself a little higher up on the pillows again. She lifted her right hand out from under the blanket covering her. No blood, except for a few scratches that were healing. She'd been all cleaned up, at least for the most part. She imagined what she must have looked like when she burst into the door those nights ago.

"I need to know...How is Ed doing?"

"I'm sorry? Which one was he?"

"The blonde one, the boy I was carrying with me."

"Oh, him." The nurse sat down next to the bed and smiled warmly at the younger girl. "He's going to be fine. He was in a pretty bad condition when you brought him here, but you did get him here in time. Like you, he was unconscious for a couple days, but he came around a few hours ago. He's going to be here longer than you are, but he'll be okay after some time."

Jordan sighed heavily. "Good." Another heavy cough racked her fragile frame, sending waves of pain through her aching muscles. She moaned again and fell back against the pillows when she was finished.

"Oh dear, injured as you are and so ill. You just have all the luck, don't you?" The nurse picked up a nearby bottle filled with some orange liquid. "You're going to have to take this. It'll help you sleep better."

'Aw man, not cough medic-' Before Jordan could even begin to protest, or so much as finish the thought, a spoonful of the liquid was forced into her mouth. She swallowed quickly, coughing and spluttering. "Augh, warn me next time please."

"Sorry." The nurse set the bottle and spoon down again. "Try to get some rest. You need to recover."

With another sigh and a terrible aftertaste in her mouth, Jordan relaxed and closed her eyes again. As she drifted off into sleep, she heard voices conversing quietly. Al had entered the room to see how she was doing, and the nurse was doing her best to convince him not to bother the young girl.

-------------------

It was roughly ten hours later when Jordan woke up again. Before she even opened her eyes, she tried flexing a few of the different muscles in her body. All were sore and weak, but she felt a lot better than she did the last time she was awake. Again, she attempted to sit up against her pillows. It worked considerably better this time, not in nearly so much pain.

"Hey. Are you okay?" A voice asked. "Glad to see you're awake."

"Hey Al," Jordan responded. "Glad to see I'm awake, too. But enough about me; how's Edward? He's okay?"

Al started; he hadn't expected Jordan to even think about his brother's condition right then. He relaxed. "He's doing okay. The doctor's said he'll be here a day or two longer than you will, but he's going to be fine." One could hear the tension in the way he said those words.

"Good." Jordan sighed and put her half-bandaged right arm over her eyes. "Wish I could go see him, but I'm not allowed to get up for a few more days, until they know that if I move my wounds won't open up right away."

"You shouldn't have come out to fight," Al reprimanded her again. "If you hadn't been so sick you wouldn't have gotten nearly as hurt as you did."

"And Edward could very well been killed!" Jordan countered. "Look, listen here and listen hard. I came out there because I knew that the two of you, the best friends I have, were in trouble. I came out of my own free will. I knew there was the risk I could get hurt like this. But you know what?" Jordan sat up, ignoring the pain in her side and every muscle in her torso, "Two people hurt is better than one dead. Injuries can be healed, but a life can't be recovered."

She slumped back against her pillows, suddenly exhausted again. "Just give up on lecturing me about leaving the inn. What's done is done, and only time will fix it."

It was silent for several moments as Al thought about what she said. He had to agree. If she hadn't risked her own life...

"Sorry," he said at length.

"Eh, don't worry about it bro."

"Um, bro?"

"Oh, sorry," Jordan laughed. "Forgot you don't know the slang where I'm from. Actually, I'm surprised I use any of it. Anyway, that's just short for 'brother' where I'm from. People usually say it to their good friends or, obviously, their brothers." She coughed again. "Hey Alphonse, can I get you to do me a huge favor?"

"Oh, sure," Alphonse said, standing up from the chair he had been sitting on.

"Get me my sketchbook from the inn? I won't be allowed up for awhile, and staring at the ceiling is going to get boring very quickly. It should be right on my bed. Don't be afraid to look around for it if it's not there, I've got nothing to hide."

"Got it. I'll be back in a few minutes then." Al moved to leave, then stopped in the doorway. "Don't do anything to hurt yourself in the meantime...Sister." He left after that comment.

"I can't move Al, what's there to do to hur-Did you call me Sister?" Jordan stared at the now empty doorway into the hall, blinking a few times. Then, forgetting that matter, she scratched absently at the IV needle still in her wrist and wished she had her glasses.

--------------------

"I can go? I'm actually free now?"

"Well, you still need to stay around for another day or so, especially while you're waiting for your friend to recover and since we can't take off your bandages, but yes, you're otherwise free to go." The nurse smiled at Jordan.

"Yes! Thank you!" Jordan almost leaped straight out of the bed, but held herself back. She threw off the blanket and swung her legs carefully over the edge of the bed, testing to see if she was going to collapse. Everything everywhere still hurt, but it felt that her body would carry her weight. She inched forward and touch her bare feet to the cold tile floor, then stood up straight.

"Whoa..." Jordan reeled as a wave of dizziness fell over her. The nurse kept her upright as she stumbled backwards, though the dizziness passed fast enough. Satisfied she could care for herself, the nurse left shortly afterwards, pointing out an extra pair of jeans Jordan could have in place of the hospital robe.

"Man...I wonder what I look like after over a week in bed," Jordan wondered aloud. There was a mirror in the hospital room she'd been residing in, so she stripped off the robe, pulled on the jeans, and made her way over to that.

The image reflected back at her seemed terribly unfamiliar to Jordan. Bandages criss-crossed over her chest and stomach and behind her back, covering her torso entirely in the strips of white cloth up to under her arms. Her right arm was also bandaged from her elbow to her shoulder, and her left leg from knee to ankle. Even more bandages wrapped around her head. Her hair, once silky and clean, was tangled and still matted with a bit of blood, tied up into a high ponytail over her bandages. Jordan had lost weight, too; she hadn't eaten much during her stay.

"Okay, I know I needed to lose a few pounds," Jordan started, tugging on the loose waistband of her jeans, "But being passed out for several days and crash-dieting in the process was not the way I had planned to do it." She sighed, then brightened. "Oh well. I can finally go see Ed again!" She grinned, grabbed her sketchbook and pencil, then walked calmly out of the room, stopping to ask a different nurse for the way to his room.

When she did finally find the correct room, the door was closed. Jordan peeked into the small window to make sure she wasn't mistaken.

Edward was propped up against his pillows, staring up at the ceiling with a book laying across his lap. His hand was resting across it as if he had been recently reading it. Now he appeared to be gazing off in thought. He didn't even notice when Jordan opened the door and stepped inside.

"Ed, is there something particularly intriguing about the ceiling or am I just so uninteresting that I'm not worth noticing?" She asked with a smirk after a few seconds. Ed started out of his trance and looked over toward the girl leaning against the wall, twirling her pencil in her fingers.

"Hey," he said by way of greeting.

"Hey," she returned. "How ya doin'?" She moved to sit on the floor next to his bed. She took notice of the bandaging around his head, remembering the injuries he'd had.

"Not too bad," Edward answered. "They're saying I can go in another day or two."

"That's good. That's what they're telling me." Jordan smiled up at him. "It'll be nice to actually get out of here, no? I've been going stir-crazy, personally."

"Yeah," Ed agreed. He swept his eyes over Jordan, taking in the numerous bandages covering her body, and commented, "Interesting state of dress."

Jordan blushed lightly and hugged her sketchbook to her chest. "It's not my fault! That nurse only gave me jeans, okay? And jeans are one heck of a lot better than those little hospital robes!" She protested hotly. Under her breath she added, "Pervert."

"Hey, don't get all upset, I'm just kidding!" Ed said with a laugh. "You are missing something though."

"I already know I don't have a shirt and that bandages have taken the place of that."

"No, no, not that." He reached into a drawer in his bedside table and pulled up a silver chain. From it dangled a dragon. "This is your necklace, right?"

Jordan looked at it in confusion, then reached up to her neck and grasped at a non-existant chain that should have been there. "How did you get that?"

"Sorry," Ed apologized. "When you took me up here after the fight, I grabbed it and broke the chain by accident. I've had it since. I meant to have Al bring it back to you, but I wanted to hold on to it for some reason." He grinned and dropped it into Jordan's hand.

She inspected the necklace. It was splattered with some rusty red substance. "Lovely," she mentioned. "The blood yours or mine?" She got a shrug in response. "Well, glad to have this one back before I leave. I'll keep the blood as a...beautiful reminder."

"Leave?"

Jordan sighed and reached back to clasp the necklace behind her head. "Once I'm all healed up, I'm planning some traveling. Not sure where, but it's for study."

"By yourself?"

"Yeah."

"You're not serious, are you?"

"Yes." Jordan continued to fiddle with the hook to her necklace, and finally Ed leaned over and took the chain in his hands to do it for her. "I'm going on my own. I don't want you and Al getting hurt again. The homonculi are after me too, and possibly more than you. They think I don't know anything about that Philosopher's Stone, so they think I'll make it for them, meaning they're probably going to come for me more. I don't want to put that risk on anybody else's shoulders."

Ed finished with the clasp, and Jordan shifted slightly so she could open her sketchbook and balance it on her knees to work.

"You can't go on your own," Ed told her.

"Yes I can. End of story."

"Won't you at least say what you're planning to do?"

"No. I don't really even know where I'm going myself." Jordan picked up her pencil. "Now, like I said. End of story. Drop it."

It was silent for about a minute after, save the scratching of Jordan's pencil against her paper, or the frustrated sigh when she couldn't get something right about a detail. Edward finally broke the silence with, "So what are you working on now?"

The picture was of a dog-eared youth wearing what appeared to be oversized robes, with a girl in a school uniform leaning on his shoulder.

"Just a random drawing," Jordan answered, lifting her pencil in order to examine the look of one of the girl's eyes. "The girl's name is Kagome, and the dog-eared guy's is Inuyasha. They're fictional characters that were kind of famous back home."

"Really? Why are his ears like that?"

"He's half dog-demon. Long story."

The two continued their small talk for awhile, sometime into the night. Edward was eventually the first one to fall asleep. When he did, Jordan smiled secretly and flipped to another page of her sketchpad. This drawing was considerably different from her other one.

It depicted the three of them on a grassy hill, with a single large tree at the top overlooking a sparkling body of water. In the picture, Jordan was hanging upside-down by one leg from a branch of the tree, with her arms wrapped about Ed's shoulders. Alphonse, in his own human body, was watching the two of them with an amused expression, and Edward was half-heartedly trying to push Jordan away from him with a grin. Off to the side, only slightly visible, was a gravestone wreathed vines dotted with flowers.

Jordan had been working on this drawing the longest, for at least a few weeks. She refused to let anybody see this one. She didn't know why, but she just didn't want anybody to see it. She sighed, and set to work again, wondering if she would ever even finish it. There was always something wrong about it.

Then she thought back to her decision. She had told Ed she planned to leave, and it was true. It was going to be lonely, on her own. But she couldn't afford the risk of having the boys with her.

Keep the blood, that's what she'd said she'd do.

When the nurse came in to check up on Edward one last time, Jordan was already asleep as well, clutching her necklace in one hand.

_Dum de dum...Review please. _


	17. I'm Not Changing My Mind

_Whoa! Everybody seemed to review at once! O.O Seriously, I checked my email every few hours the first day and had at least three new reviews every time! Thanks, you guys. I feel so loved now. :3 _

_Time for a random fact today! Because I just remembered reading it in one of the books for my manga drawing kit!_

_Did you know that Americans actually helped to invent manga? During World War II, American soldiers occupied the country of Japan. The soldiers dropped American comic books, and those were then read by impressionable young Japanese artists who began modifying their own original comic drawing. Therefore, American influences helped create manga! Cool, huh?  
_

Liah Cauthon: Yes, I'm very happy you reviewed. You know, that drawing design was actually a lot different then how I was going to have it. But, since I was planning this big drawing a month or two ago, it got changed last minute because I didn't like it as much. Glad you like it, though!

Celedeen Tachibana: Yes, Jordan _can_ leave the boys, and she will. Sorry. I'm glad you like the drawing. It will hopefully be finished eventually. I do have an idea about the missing element. It's very basic. No, it's not that Jordan's missing her glasses or something like that, just to say now.

Cha-chan-hyper: Well...That would be an interesting and original plot line for your fan fiction, should you choose to do it. I would read it, but then, I'm a goofball. :3 I'm glad you like this story. Stick around!

Hagane no Kamisori Kaze: Whew, nice new name, Shiriko. :) Yeah, um, I'd imagine that Jordan and Ed would be in some serious pain after the fight too. Glad I don't plan to get in that much trouble myself. It is kind of sad that Jordan's going to be leaving the brothers...but I have a plan...A good plan. As for your pairings question...Well...Yes. That's kinda how it's working out here. Glad I rock! Thanks!

Shiori Kurokase: I'm exactly like Jordan and her sketchbook (well, duh, I am Jordan, ha ha). I do let my friends see my drawings, but that's usually because I left my sketchbook in the open by accident. #sweatdrops# Don't let your self-confidence get ahead of you! Just about anybody can be a writer if they try hard enough. Not everyone, but just about everyone. :P

Wandering Hitokiri: I'm stressed? Hm, didn't know that. I should watch myself in the future. #grins# Aaanyway, I love sarcasm. Don't you? Sarcasm is juuust peachy keen, innit? #laughs# It is definitely up there in mankind's best inventions. Besides anime/manga and advanced technology. I love your story so far; keep it up!

Black Blood Alchemist: YAY FOR ME! Oops...Wait. #cough# Anyway. You really wish you could write like me? Aw, that's sweet. Very few people ever want to be anything like me (except my brother when it comes to my video game talent). Thanks so much!

Coolkat and RoooKie: Well, if you scroll down and read you'll know what happens next. :P But then you'd miss out on my response here. Anyway, if you've been following the story, why haven't you reviewed? Just wondering. I love reviews. Make sure you do get that class read done too! I never have that problem, since I'm an avid reader and can finish a five hundred page book in a day without trying super hard, but that's me. :P Just make sure to keep up on your school work too.

**Dragon: I see a good many people are sad for the to-be leave of Jordan, hm?**

**Ed: Honestly, you have to write it like this?**

**Dragon: What, does our oldest Elric-san have a little crush to deal with here?**

**_Dragon smirks evilly as Edward flushes red and turns away_**

**Dragon: I'm kidding, I'm kidding. #coughs#**

**Al: I'm on Brother's side with this one.**

**Dragon: Don't contradict my story. Don't worry, everything will turn out just fine...**

**_Dragon meanders off, leaving behind a piece of paper that Ed picks up and reads aloud._**

**Ed: "If you want the disclaimer so bad, look back on the previous sixteen chapters."**

**Al: ...**

* * *

Jordan was the first to awake the next morning out of the two. Before she even was able to crack open her eyes she felt two things: a crick in the neck and a sharp pain in the palm of her left hand. Lifting her eyelids just enough to see, she realized that throughout the whole night she'd been clenching her necklace in her hand. Releasing the grip on the bloodstained dragon, she saw the bright red imprints it had left in her skin. 

"Ow," she whispered, shaking her hand as if it would make the hurting stop. From the corner of her eye she looked to see what she was still resting her head on, because it sure didn't feel like the wall the rest of her was leaning against.

Throughout the whole night, she had been laying her head down on Edward's bed (because it was low enough for her to do so), and now she was dangerously close to him. _Facing _each other, for that matter.

"Oh jeez!" Jordan almost jumped back as she moved so quickly away. She immediately felt her face flush as the hot blood raced to her cheeks. Her sketchpad fell from her lap with a rustled thump as her pencil landed with a tick on the tile floor and rolled off elsewhere. "Note to self: Do not sleep next to the bed," she warned herself as she gathered her things. Luckily, her little commotion hadn't so much as made the boy stir in his sleep.

She stared for a minute at her sketchbook, the drawing she had been working on the night before. Would she ever get it done? Was there even a chance she would be able to put that missing element into her work? It was just something there that she couldn't fix with merely a pencil or eraser. No, she'd tried that.

With a sigh, she flipped to an empty page. After scribbling a quick note, she tore out the paper and left it on Ed's bedside table so he'd see it when he awoke. That business finished, she cast one last sad look at her older of best friends before leaving and going back to her own room.

As almost expected, the nurse that had been tending her for the last week and a half was attending to assorted things in the room that were already right as it was. When Jordan walked in, her attention was caught.

"Good morning," she greeted the younger girl. "How was your first night out of bed?"

"Decent enough," Jordan replied. "Say, am I permitted to leave yet? As in, leave the hospital for awhile?"

"If you feel well enough, of course you may go," the nurse said, her smile fading slightly at the strange question. "But you must come back within an hour or two. Your injuries aren't healed enough for you to stay gone."

"I'll be back by this afternoon. I just need to run out to the shop to get some stuff. Like shoes, seeing as my sneakers were never returned to me."

"Well, we do still have the clothing you had before," the nurse replied, "Though I'm not sure you really want it."

"As long as my shoes are intact, I don't really care about the pajamas." In reality, Jordan did wish the pants and shirt had still been okay. In order to have some comfortable night clothes she had transmuted her daytime clothing.

The nurse opened a cupboard in the corner of the room and produced the filthy clothing Jordan had been wearing upon arrival. She seemed rather disgusted, but Jordan took the articles with no problem, taking the glasses from the pocket of the pants and throwing the shoes on the bed and dropping the rest in the trash can. She sat on the bed and pulled on the tennis shoes, which were the only things she had been wearing that were still in a good condition, not covered in blood or anything as such. That finished, she bent the frames of her glasses into the correct shape again and put them on.

"I'll be back whenever," Jordan said, going to leave again. She took only her sketchbook and pencil with her.

Walking to the inn, several people stopped to ask how she was doing or give her a greeting. Jordan responded to all these in a positive fashion, secretly wishing they would stop inquiring about her injuries. Word had gotten around in that week and a half, about how Jordan and the brothers had saved Lexalin from the perpetrators attacking their town, and the near-fatal wounds they had received in the process.

As the tenth person asked her about how her recovery was coming along, Jordan was about to beat the person senseless with her sketchbook when the Lex Inn loomed ahead. She immediately ran ahead toward it and disappeared inside the building before further questions could be asked.

Once inside, she went upstairs as fast as her aching body would allow and found the room she'd been staying at. Her things remained untouched, except for Alphonse's search for her sketchbook a few days prior. She dug into her bag and found her money, mentally thanking government funding as she put a few bills into her jeans pocket. Looking at her jacket, which was the only thing she hadn't transmuted those nights ago, she slipped that on as well.

Before setting back out, Jordan scratched out another note on a piece of her drawing paper and stuck it on the door. It read:

_I apologize for holding out this room for so long. I promise to work it off as soon as my friend and I are back in a fit condition._

_-Jordan_

Hoping the manager wouldn't be angry, she tossed her sketchbook and pencil back onto the bed and darted out of the inn and left as inconspicuously as possible. There had to be a textiles shop around there somewhere.

--------------------

Edward woke up shortly after Jordan had left. His groggy mind first registered her absence, then the piece of paper sitting on the table right in front of him. Sitting up and brushing a few strands of messy hair out of his eyes, he picked up the paper. It was a note from Jordan.

_Hey Ed-_

_Woke up before you did. I decided I wanted a better shirt than bandages, among other things, so I headed out. I'll come back by this afternoon. Might want to start thinking about what we need to tell Mustang in our report once we go back to East City. Just a heads up, since mentioning we nearly died is only going to get us a lecture on not dying, because he doesn't want the hassle of the paperwork.  
_

_Remember what I told you last night? Need you to mention that to Alphonse for me. Tell him I'll explain if he wants me to, but I asked you to tell him since I was busy._

_-L.D.A._

It took Ed a minute to figure out the acronym at the bottom of the sheet, but he soon realized what it was. L.D.A., Lightning Dragon Alchemist. He chuckled lightly as he folded the paper and set it back on the table. Apparently she had been feeling mysterious that morning when she wrote the note.

Alphonse walked into the room as he was putting the note away. Remembering Jordan's request, Ed sighed. The younger brother probably wasn't going to take the news lightly of their friend's to-be leave.

--------------------

"Thank you very much, miss!" The woman behind the counter said excitedly.

"It's no problem," Jordan said modestly, taking her purchases. "Things I need, is all." With a wave, she walked out of the small shop, her perky facade fading immediately after.

"No, I don't want to buy any damn pink cloth," she muttered under her breath, looking into the paper bag. "Why does every freaking woman in Amestris think I have to wear frilly clothing? Camouflage pants and a t-shirt fit me well enough, thanks. Females can dress as boys without being arrested, right?" Of course, most girls back home looked down on her for that. Alas, that was the cost of being individual.

When she got back to the inn, there was another message scrawled under the one she'd left on the door, written on the same piece of paper.

"'Don't worry about the cost; you've done enough for our town already'," Jordan read aloud. A signature was written underneath, but it was one of those signatures that one couldn't read easily, so she couldn't make out the name. "Well, I guess that makes it easier for us." She unlocked the door and sat on the bed, emptying the contents of the paper bag next to her.

Out on her little excursion, she'd gone into the shop and bought a few swatches of cloth that she could transmute into her own clothing, not wanting to take the time to try on clothes and make sure they fit. This way she could make them just as she wanted. Not that she particularly cared about her fashion.

Setting out a few squares of dark green cloth together, she clapped her hands and pressed them to the cloth. Under the cover of the traditional blue glow, the cloth transmuted into a simple t-shirt, loose to her liking. She did the same to some pieces of thicker, more durable denim, transmuting those into a pair of camouflage pants. Satisfied with her handiwork, Jordan folded those clothes and tucked them under her arm, then grabbed her sketchpad and made her way back to the hospital to check in with that nurse again before she got in trouble for being gone too long.

A fifteen minute walk and another irritating series of questions later, Jordan was safely back in the small town hospital. She worked her way back to her room, where once again the same nurse was there to check up. Jordan began to wonder if the woman was ever anywhere else.

"I have returned," she said instead. "I'm alive, not further injured, et cetera. Now, anywhere I can actually get a shower?"

The nurse directed her to a couple of locker rooms on the first floor that she could clean up in, but Jordan had to alleviate the fears about her bandages by saying she could redo them herself when she was finished. So, with her new clothes and a fresh roll of cloth in hand, she went downstairs again and found the locker rooms that the nurse had told her about.

It took Jordan a minute to distinguish the differences between the two rooms, but then noticed a small sign. A loosely hanging wooden sign hung between the two doors leading to the locker rooms, with two arrows painted on it. The arrow pointing left had "Men" written above it, and the one pointing right had "Women" painted over it. All in all, the sign was shabby and looked like even a small shock could knock it down.

As soon as she pushed through the correct door, Jordan tripped over an untied shoelace, of all things. Her still weakened muscles failed to support her, and she fell hard against the outer wall. She was hoping she only imagined the dull clatter she heard beyond the wall.

"Oops," she said aloud. "Sorry, to anyone that heard that." Luckily, nobody else was in the locker room and there wasn't a commotion outside, so it seemed to check out okay.

"Glad nobody else is in here," Jordan mused aloud, looking at the thankfully empty individual shower stalls. If there had been, her plans would have changed immediately. She set her items down on a pearly countertop and found herself looking into the mirror hanging over one of the sinks inlaid into the counter. "Man, I look terrible. Not that I've ever been beautiful," Jordan laughed to herself.

Wanting to shower quickly before anybody else came in, Jordan quickly stripped off her clothing and numerous bandages (which took a considerable while), then hopped into one of the empty stalls and turned on the water. She almost jumped out again when she was drenched in icy cold water, but it warmed up considerably fast. She winced as the gash in her side and head and other numerous scratches burned in the water, but soon grew used to it after the initial sting.

She leaned against the stall door, relaxing in the hot water rushing over her body. After so long being still, and only just recently being permitted to move, it felt good, to put it simply. She crossed her arms over the top of the stall, staring into the quickly fogging mirrors again.

"Damn, I never thought I'd miss showers so much," she breathed. Opening her eyes, she spotted a lone bar of soap on a small shelf. Grateful, she took it and began lathering it into her hair, heaving a sigh of annoyance as she watched the first suds turn pink. It would take awhile before her hair was clean. Now why did she have to get the stupid blood in her hair?

As she was rubbing in the third wash's worth of soap, almost happy with how clean her hair was, she heard a creak as the door opened. She froze, hearing echoing metallic footsteps against the tile.

"Brother, are you in here?" Alphonse's voice inquired. Lo and behold, the armor-clad young brother walked _into the room_, leaving Jordan in a shocked, wide-eyed state.

"Um...Alphonse? I know for a fact that your brother wouldn't be in here..." She said in a shaky voice. Her face was burning, and it wasn't the water. She sank down so she was had just her eyes peeking over the stall door. "I really, really, really think he wouldn't be in here."

Al froze, standing stock-still for a moment, then slowly turned to face the startled, but even more embarrassed, girl hiding.

It was painfully silent for a minute.

"Oh my gosh! Jordan I am so sorry!" Alphonse yelped. "I had no idea you were in here-"

Jordan's anger suddenly sparked. "What the hell were you thinking, though? The _woman's _locker room, you dolt! What made you think it was a brilliant idea to come in here?"

"Honestly, I didn't even know!"

"Five seconds to explain yourself before I start the alchemy. There was a damned sign out there."

"It must have fallen over! Honest! Brother had left his room and I didn't know where he went, so I thought he'd gone to shower and I heard the shower on in here, so I thought it was him in here, not you!"

Jordan glared at him from over the door. She thought about the clatter she'd heard outside the door, and the loosely hanging sign. She'd smashed against the wall . . . . She relaxed.

"That makes sense. I think when I hit the wall earlier, the sign fell over. I understand where you're coming from, Al." She sighed.

"You're not angry?"

"No, I guess I can't be. It's not your fault. In fact, it's more mine than yours." Jordan straightened, then returned to the process of rubbing the soap thoroughly through her hair. "However, it might be a good idea to leave now."

"S-sure," Al agreed. He turned to leave, then stopped. "Actually, can I talk to you about something?"

"Why here? Can't it wait?" Jordan asked, turning her back to Alphonse as she rinsed the suds from her hair.

"Well, I kind of wanted to talk to you alone..."

"Fine. What is it?"

"Brother told me about your plans to leave."

Jordan stopped, holding her bar of soap in one hand. "Yeah. I asked him to tell you for me."

"Why are you going?" Al asked, sadness in his voice.

"Al, it's just study travel. It's not something I want to bug the two of you with. You and Edward have more important things to tend to. I know you guys are out to find the Philosopher's Stone, and I would only be a pain. I don't want the two of you to have to follow me around for my own business." Jordan said calmly. "Besides, you know what the homonculi said. They think I don't know much about the Stone, and they think that means I'll create it for me. They'll be after me. I don't want the two of you getting hurt because of me."

"But it isn't something you can do with us?"

"No, Al."

"But you can't really be worried about the risk of being around us, it's not like Brother and I haven't-"

"_No_, Alphonse. My decision is final. I'm sorry, but I'm going to leave after we report in to Colonel Mustang." Jordan sighed and closed her eyes, holding back a threat of tears. No, she wouldn't cry. Not now, not when she left.

She rinsed the rest of the soap from her skin, then turned off the water. "Now might be an excellent time to leave, Al," she said, clapping her hands and pressing them to the top of her head. All the water on her body was transmuted into steam, further clouding the room. "I need to dress. If we have to, we'll talk more later."

Al nodded and left. Jordan sighed once he left.

"Damn. That was weird," she murmured to herself as she picked up the roll of bandages and began wrapping up her stomach yet again.

_Doo...de doo...Review..._

_By the way, my next update will probably be a little late. Gotta update my Zelda fiction before I get in trouble with my other fans...v.v' _


	18. Just a Single Tear

_We broke one hundred reviews! #sniff# Thanks you guys! I feel so loved. _:')

_Anyone want an ice pack from reading before?_

Coolkat and Roookie: Ah. Well, that's a good excuse for not reviewing then. :3 Yay for reading!

Liz-Chan the Ambient Alchemist: Well, I forgive you. Just remember to keep reviewing. :P Just kidding. You don't have to, but it would be really, really nice. Glad you like my story! Yay! My OC is liked and therefore I am liked!

Wandering Hitokiri: Make sure to pick up one of those ice packs, in case of injury from reading that moment. I don't know what made me think of it, but it just...appeared, and I had to write it for some reason. XD Yay sarcasm! Great for using against weak minds indeed (like my best friend). Yep, I likey your story. W00tness!

Caspercat22: Really? You like my story that much? Aw, I'm flattered. :3 I'm surprised I'm having Jordan leave either...O.o

Celedeen Tachibana: No, I'm not accusing you! O.O

Hagane no Kamisori Kaze: Yeah, Al did walk into there. Need one of those ice packs? No, I'm sure you don't suck that much. :P

Shiori Kurokase: My family worries for me, too. We're a lot alike on those merits. I've never had my family walk in on me while I was showering...No, wait, I have. My brother tried to but I slammed the door in his face. Make sure to tell me what your new pen name is!

Cha-chan-hyper: Yup. Replied. Yay.

Black Blood Alchemist: Yup, a new chapter! Yes, I'm forgiven! Yay! XD Get one of those ice packs if you hit your head.

Dancing Nightmare: Don't let the happy place conquer you...O.O That'd be bad, I think. Too bad you were disconnected from your Internet, but if you saw movies I guess it couldn't have been all bad. :) Yeah Al, you have to react faster! #would slap but the metal would rebound# Ehm...Anyway. Yeah, I'm really surprised I'm having Jordan leave them. I never planned to, but then it just kind of...happened, I guess. POWER TO THE CAMO!

Nakori Elvenborne: Whew, haven't seen you in a little while. :3 Glad to. I forgive you. Edward rules indeed.

**Dragon: #leans on a cooler full of ice packs# Man, a lot of you fell out of your chairs reading that moment in the last chapter...**

**Al: O.O I feel dirty for that...**

**Dragon: I'm sure you do, Alphonse. **

**Ed: You are cruel, you know that?**

**Dragon: Many have told me so...**

**Ed: She doesn't own anything...**

**Dragon: Hey!**

**Al: O.O...**

* * *

Jordan looked around the inn room one last time as she slipped on her jacket over her new green shirt, leaving it casually unzipped. No pencils on the floor, loose pieces of paper from her sketchbook, any of her alchemy books remaining that she hadn't yet packed. Nothing she needed or wanted was being left behind. 

The last few days had passed in such a blur, it seemed like it was too soon for them to leave all of a sudden. The teen heaved a heavy sigh as she picked up her backpack (transmuted from the original bag she'd been carrying). The train they were due to take was departing soon, and she had to go before the brothers came knocking with a reminder.

Maybe it was just because of the life-threatening experiences she'd had in Lexalin, but she still felt like she was leaving something behind, despite the twenty pound travel bag she had on her back and the fact she'd cleaned out the room the day before.

She pulled the fine silvery chain of her necklace up and let her dragon rest on the front of her shirt. She still hadn't cleaned it off, like most people would. They weren't particularly attractive, those splatters of rusty red.

She chuckled lightly as she thought of the irony. One of the most beautiful of mythical killers actually splashed in blood.

"Oh man, I'd better get going," the girl thought, sneaking a peek at her watch. With one last glance around the room, she turned to leave, letting the door click quietly behind her.

Reaching the main room of the hotel, several heads turned to look at Jordan as she descended down the steps. All were still grateful for her assistance, and any prejudiced thoughts pertaining to her "career" as a military officer had vanished. Jordan was glad for this.

Edward and Alphonse were on the opposite side of the room, as one look around told her. Ed was sitting on a small stool, his right arm on a table as a woman tinkered away with some small, precise tools. Jordan had finally convinced him the day before that they wouldn't have time to go back to Risembool and ask Winry, and that he should have the repairs done this morning. Al hovered around the two of them, watching the last of the repairs progress.

As Jordan approached, unnoticed by the brothers, the woman finished her work. With a perky "Here ya go!" the woman lifted her hands from Ed's auto-mail, allowing him to flex his arm freely.

"You're not half bad," the blonde complimented. "Feels just like Winry usually does."

"Oh my gosh. Ed just complimented a fellow human being, and equal to his girlfriend, too. Is the Apocalypse coming?" Jordan voiced her opinions aloud.

"Ha ha, very funny," Ed said dryly, standing up. He then picked apart a fragment of Jordan's last sentence. "Winry isn't my girlfriend!" He fumed.

"I'm just kidding, oh short one. Chill."

"Brother, stop it!" Alphonse cried, hastily reaching out and grasping a fistful of Ed's black shirt in order to keep the fourteen year old from pouncing the girl standing smugly in front of them. Jordan grinned in victory as she stood just beyond his reach.

"Who are you calling so small he could sit on a grain of sand with room to spare?" Edward raged.

"I didn't say that. Of course, if you want me to, I will. Now, don't we have a train to catch soon?"

Ed looked as if that were about the last thing on his mind. She got away with the "short" comments the first time, but she was lucky with the second!

--------------------

"Come in."

Al waited outside casually as the two youngest state alchemists walked stiffly through the door. Neither one of them wanted to report back to the colonel, but it was necessary.

Inside, Mustang looked up from yet more papers as a manila folder was tossed onto his desk. He was grateful for an interruption. First Lieutenant Hawkeye had earlier taken up the threat Jordan had predicted before and had the barrel of her gun aimed directly at his head.

No, Roy didn't know that Riza had actually slid out the magazine containing the rounds from the pistol. He didn't have to know, either. The motivation of knowing that the gun was cocked was enough.

"I'm sorry, is this a bad time?" Jordan asked, casting a doubtful glance at Riza.

"No, no, this is fine," the older woman assured her, releasing the trigger and sliding the pistol back into a sheath on her belt.

"Good."

"What is this?" Mustang demanded, picking up the manila folder delicately in one gloved hand, as if it would spontaneously combust into flames before his eyes.

"A full report on our time spent in Lexalin," Ed responded.

"I put it together. It details all of our experiences pertaining to our mission while we were there," Jordan added in.

Roy unbent the two metal prongs holding the envelope closed and slid out two pieces of crisp white paper. He skimmed over the painstakingly hand-written text and said, "Explain some of this."

"While we were in Lexalin," Jordan began, "the first few days were very quiet, sir. The townsfolk claimed cases of robbery and property damage, and so we suspected the homonculi to be there. However, we didn't see anything for awhile. It wasn't until the third or fourth night that we actually found evidence that Envy and the others were there."

The Flame Alchemist paused at the top of the second paper. "'Homonculi found at approximately 9:15 p.m.,'" he read. "'Fight then took place, in which Envy, Lust, and Gluttony escaped.' A fight?"

"We got put into the hospital for roughly two weeks," Edward stated plainly.

"I've got more than enough scars to prove it." Jordan said, rubbing the back of her head where she still had a rather large bruise.

"I believe your orders were to simply investigate whether the homonculi were in Lexalin or not," Mustang said icily. "Not to get yourself killed by taking things into your hands that should be handled by professionals."

"Permission to speak freely, sir," Jordan requested.

"Permission granted."

"We couldn't help nearly getting ourselves killed!" Jordan explained coldly. "I'll tell you exactly what happened."

She went on to explain the whole story; how she had stayed behind at the inn due to her illness while the brothers were out, how she had heard the news of the fight starting over the radio, the rush to the boys' aid, and the homonculi's escape that ended with her passing out in the arms of a man at the small-town hospital.

"So I'm sorry if we disobeyed exact commands, but it couldn't exactly be helped," she finished.

Mustang gave her a long, hard look over the top of the papers before sliding them back into the original folder. Riza regarded her curiously.

"Well, even so, you really must take more care to not get yourselves killed," he said simply. "And also, you need to learn to hold your tongue a little more."

Jordan blanched, ready to perform an anime-style fall, right then and there. The way he said that just made her so annoyed that it wasn't funny in the slightest. "Yes sir," she said meekly.

"Full Metal, Lightning Dragon," Mustang said. "The two of you really ought to watch yourselves. If you die, I get to fill out the paperwork."

"Is that all you care about?" Ed retorted. "The papers that you have to deal with?"

"You could be grateful, Full Metal, that I care at all," Mustang said smoothly.

Jordan carefully hid a sigh. "Pardon us, Colonel Mustang," she said, putting on a fake act of kindness toward her superior officer.

"Well, I see somebody's learning quickly," the Flame Alchemist said, raising an eyebrow to Jordan's behavior. She just managed a small smile, thinking a few unpleasant curses for the colonel but knowing much better than to say them out loud.

Mustang dropped the envelope back onto his desk. "The two of you have done well, considering the way you disobeyed orders," he said. Both the younger alchemists were about to contradict his reasoning when he said, "But, I suppose you're right and it couldn't be helped."

They grinned in satisfaction until the older man added, "Perhaps we should put the two of you under guard. You seem to be getting into more trouble than those of your stature are worth."

"Don't even think it, Colonel," Ed hissed.

"Watch it, Elric," the colonel replied.

"Colonel, if I may intrude," Jordan cut in, "May we be dismissed soon? I've some travel to take care of, and my train leaves within the hour."

Roy grimaced; he hadn't expected something like this would have to cut the meeting short. "Can't have you late, huh?"

"No, not really."

"Fine. I've no further orders. The two of you are dismissed."

Jordan and Ed saluted, then turned to leave. Neither one of them missed the way Riza reached back to her belt with a "look" to Mustang.

"Do you really have to leave within an hour?" Ed asked as they reunited with Alphonse in the hallway.

"Pff, no," Jordan scoffed. "I just wanted to get away from the colonel as soon as I could."

--------------------

This was where they parted.

It was just the train station, granted. Nothing special about it.

As she looked around at all the people milling the streets, listening to murmured conversations and the clatter of the tracks, she thought of how cliche this seemed. Jordan had lost count of how many movies she'd seen where the main characters take the greatest leave, dramatically boarding the carriage with a teary good-bye to friends and family, at the plain old train station.

Yet, it seemed it was her turn to partake in such a scene.

They stood on the platform, awaiting just one certain train to come in. That would be Ed and Al's. Jordan planned to stick around East City for a little while longer. There was a small library waiting for her browsing in the Eastern Headquarters, so she planned to drop by there for a few days before she moved along. The brothers couldn't wait, though. They had other business to attend to, and despite their best convincing couldn't persuade her to come along.

Jordan gazed off past the stop for the incoming train. Ed and Al looked at her. Her many-colored eyes were misty as she stared off into her own thoughts. It was only when the train came screeching into the depot that she seemed to realize reality.

"Well," she began, looking toward her friends. "I guess this is where we part, huh?"

"Yeah," came the unenthusiastic reply from the brothers.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Alphonse asked again. "You can still-"

"No Al," Jordan interrupted, "I've gotta stay here. There are just things I have to do on my own now. Dragging you along behind me wouldn't get it done and would only be slowing down your own progress." She shook her head. "It happens to even the best of friends. People have to move along eventually."

Edward fixed her in his amber gaze. "Guess we can only wish the best of luck to you now," he said, cracking a small smile.

"Same goes for you, buddy," Jordan said, returning the smile.

For the second time that nobody expected, Jordan pulled the oldest brother into a warm embrace. Ed just stood there, unsure (again) of how to react. Before he could even do anything, Jordan released him from the hug.

"Really going to miss you guys," she said, and ruffled the blonde's hair.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, passing a hand over his hair in an effort to fix it at least a little bit, "What was that about?"

"You're the only one who's hair I can reach well enough to do that," Jordan said with a shrug. "I can't leave my mark?" She shifted her backpack on her shoulders slightly.

The train conductor called for passengers to begin boarding soon before the train left without them. "That's our cue," Edward said.

"Yeah, I guess it is, huh?" Jordan watched silently as the brothers boarded the train, disappearing from sight.

A window slid open a couple carriages away. Ed and Al poked their heads from the open portal to look back at the girl standing on the platform. When she caught sight of them, she jogged to where they were.

"This is good-bye, isn't it?" Jordan said when she approached. She didn't get an immediate response.

Jordan obtained a sly smile for a moment, then brought her right hand up into a salute to her friends.

"Major Elric, Alphonse," she said, her grin never leaving, "I hope to see you again some time in the near future."

The two of them were surprised for a minute, but then returned the gesture, one at a time.

"'Bye guys," Jordan said weakly as a shrill whistle blew and the train began to move.

"'Bye," Edward and Alphonse said in equally soft tones.

Even as the train left the station entirely, Jordan never dropped even a half-hearted salute until she was sure the brothers were well out of sight. As the wind created by the speeding train blew her bangs into her face, a single tear came to her eye and traced a line down her cheek, then hastily wiped away.

-------------------

Ed sighed and leaned back into the leathery seat, looking out the window.

"You'll miss her too, won't you Brother?" Alphonse asked quietly.

"It'd be a lie if I said I wouldn't."

As Ed shifted again, a small object dropped down onto the seat next to him. It was a piece of paper, carefully tucked and folded into a perfect square. The eldest picked it up and turned it over in his hands.

"What is that?" Al inquired.

Ed unfolded the paper. There was a message scrawled in quick, messy handwriting that was immediately recognized as Jordan's.

_Hey guys-_

_I slipped this into the hood of your coat, Edward. I know I could have given it to you in a less covert method, but I thought it'd be a nice surprise. That's just me._

_Anyway, I really wanted to thank you for all you've done for me over the past couple of months. If it weren't for the two of you, I never would have passed that alchemy exam, and then who knows where I would be now? Really, it's just all thanks to you. Plus, you've really been great friends to me. I couldn't possibly ask for more from the two of you._

_Thanks a lot,_

_-Jordan_

The message was short, but it said a lot in the few words written there.

"She sent us a parting word," Ed said wryly, and passed the paper to his younger sibling. As Alphonse held it up to read it, Ed noticed something on the back.

"Hey Al, turn that over when you're finished, there's something on the back," he directed. Per Edward's instructions, Al finished reading the note and flipped to the back of the page.

It was yet another drawing. This one showed, again, the three of them together. Jordan was shown standing on a small box behind Ed and Al, once again his human self, and resting a hand on each of their shoulders and leaning on them. The brothers looked up to her in both amusement and annoyance, while the girl was just smiling contently. At the bottom of the drawing, Jordan had written, "The three of us just make the weirdest group, don't we?"

The two brothers stared at this simple drawing for a while. The silence was broken by Ed with, "And she said she couldn't draw very well."

Something caught their eye, at about the same time. In the picture, Jordan had a small flower in her hair, just behind her right ear. The pencil tone suggested darker petals with lighter tips. The way it was drawn looked very familiar to the boys.

"Strange, that flower looks like the ones on Mom's grave," Al said softly. "But Jordan never did see those, did she?"

-----

_Well, what's done is done. Review please, while I go find a place to hide...I'm afraid that the separation is not going to make many of you happy..._


	19. One Good Night

_Phew...I thought I was going to be dead. Honestly, I knew that not many people were going to be particularly happy about the separation that I wrote into the last chapter. But, I'll tell you the truth. In the beginning, I wasn't planning it at all. I swear, I had a whole different idea for how it was going to turn out. It just kinda...happened, when I got a new idea that I liked. Oh well, at least I still have all my limbs, so I know it's not bad. So far. In fact, the only thing broken is my glasses. T-T Dang it...  
_

Black Blood Alchemist: No, I promise you that this fan fiction is yet to be over. I've still got at the very least seven chapters left in me. At the very, _very _least. So, the "yes" wasn't an answer.

Shiori Kurokase: Aw, thanks. I'm not injured. Whoo! I'm glad you thought the parting was sweet. That's really what I was kinda going for. Whoo, exciting story! e.e

Celedeen Tachibana: Whoa...are you serious? That was the best chapter you've ever read in any story? O.O I never, ever thought I'd get such esteem from anybody. Thanks a lot. :)

Wandering Hitokiri: It was good? Yay! e.e I'm glad I'm on your list of favorites! If you like my character, you really ought to me in real life. I mean, since it is me running around here, Jordan and I are one and the same (you know how weird it is, seeing as I'm saying Jordan when that's myself? Yeesh...). You know, I think your story is going to surpass mine. You've really got talent. :)

DiCoNuLiS sAmUrAi: I had to separate them because of the plans I got for my story. I know it seems a tragic plan, and it is, but trust me, it's going to turn out just fine. Is this update soon enough for you? I don't update super-fast, so this is as close as it gets. You'll see why Jordan had to leave this chapter. Skip on down and check it out. :3 Oh, and hi Nyuu!

Liah Cauthon: Hm, that is a good hiding place. I'll make sure to keep that in mind. :)

Kamisori Kaze no Renkenjutsu: Your name is fun to type! XD Hey, where do you get your Japanese translations? I've been trying to find a good online site, but it's not as accurate as I'd like it to be. Besides that...Yay! I rock! l3

Coolkat and Roookie: Thank you. Thank you very much. :3 Start with this chapter, and as I write you'll get to find out how it all works out.

Cha-chan-hyper: Whoa...was the name "manila" not known before I stuck it in my chapter? #shrugs# Anyway. Yes, I can really draw like that without copying. It takes me awhile, and a lot of patience (especially with hands and poses), but I can manage.

Caspercat22: Why? Because I can. :P Nah, it's just how it's coming out. I'm updating as fast I can, so be patient!

A Falling Angel: I'm glad you like my story. I've always tried to make my things a little different, and I have noticed that about mine, that it is considerably different from most "authoress to Amestris" stories. I'm glad I successfully pulled this off in a different but good way. :3 Skim on down a little, you'll find out what happens next (though as of now it's not terribly exciting).

**Dragon: #looks herself over# I'm glad to see I'm still in one piece. I thought everybody would be after me after that last chapter.**

**_Dragon is met by silence, except for a cricket chirping in the distance._**

**Dragon: Hello? Guys? Anybody here?**

**_More silence._**

**Dragon: Fine. I'll just go plot ways to get my hands on "Full Metal Alchemist". #sulks off#**

* * *

_I'm going home._

_I wish I could have gone home, a long time ago. Before I made friends with _the _Edward and Alphonse Elric, before I became part of the military, before I would feel guilty about everything and everybody I would have to leave behind. But I do have to go back home. Who know what my family and friends have been going through these past few months?_

_Still, I feel really lonely now. I spent most my waking moments with those two brothers. They became my new best friends during my stay here in Amestris. There's so much I really wish I could have told them. Where I really come from, why I had to be so secretive...but if I did, they never would have trusted me as they did._

_I can only hope they soon forget me. I plan to get back home soon, and I don't want them to be upset. That's why I told them I had to go and didn't tell them why._

_#sigh# I should go back to my research. If I ever hope to open the Gate and go home, or any way I plan to, it's going to be non-stop research. I don't care how many books I go through, the libraries, the tutors even, if I must. I've got to go home. Before I see them again._

_-Jordan_

_March 30, 1914 _

_(Whoever thought I'd be practically living my history books?)  
_

She sighed and reached into a small pouch in her backpack and pulled out a very small amount of fine grain sand. This she sprinkled over the wet ink on the page, helping it to dry faster.

Jordan surveyed the cluttered table. For the fourth day straight, she sat at the very same table, very same chair, conducting her research. Stacks of books, thick and thin, were piled over the table, threatening to make the wood splinter and collapse under the weight. A small black book lay open in front of her, the ink drying with the sand, and a feather quill lay next to it.

The book and quill she had just bought this morning, to record her further ventures in Amestris and any useful information she could find on the Gate. She picked up the quill and held it up in the light. The quill was raven black, but when in even a small amount of light it would shine a brilliant emerald green. Jordan still wasn't sure what had prompted her to buy a quill, of all things. A pack of pens would have been less expensive, and a lot easier to use. Maybe it was just her love of old-style things.

She dropped the quill onto the table, pushed her journal and glasses out of the way, and crossed her arms over the dusty wood, dropping her head onto her makeshift pillow so she was staring down at the tabletop with her nose mere millimeters from the surface.

It was late, and she knew it. Jordan had been doing this for four days. In the morning, grab whatever provisions she needed (namely, whatever was in her backpack), something small for breakfast, and spend the day in the headquarters library, leaving rarely, mostly when hunger drove her to extremes or she grew so restless she had to move.

A thick tome slid from a towering pile of books and slammed down on the top of the exhausted girl's head, jolting her painfully from her doze. She cursed loudly and bolted up, snatching the book before it could slide down from her desk and make any further noise. Jordan was the only one here, and had been for the last few days. The library here wasn't very popular, it was obvious.

"Is somebody still here?" A male's voice asked, echoing down the hallway to Jordan. She paid little attention. It was her right to still be here. She was a state alchemist still, however much she didn't like the title.

The teen picked up her watch and clicked open the cover. 7:35 in the evening, it told her. The window high up on the wall still let through rays of sunshine, however faint they were.

"Maybe I should go back to the hotel," Jordan mused wearily, flicking her watch shut again and letting it slip through her fingers onto the table. "Before I pass out and get hit with more stupid books." She dusted the sand off the pages of her journal and snapped it shut, then screwed the cap onto her bottle of ink.

"Little girl, are you supposed to be in here?" A man wearing a military uniform stood in the doorway of the library, leaning against the frame casually.

"Yes," Jordan replied. "I'm fine." She held up her watch so the man could see. _The next damn person to call me a little girl is going straight through all the nine hells,_ she thought.

"You seem a little young to be an alchemist," the man said, stepping into the library. He was tall, and wore glasses and had faint stubble of a beard on his chin and jaw. Jordan recognized him as Maes Hughes, but pretended not to know a thing.

"You can tell that to Edward," she said instead, clipping her watch to her belt loop and sliding it into her pocket, then gathering up all her things laying on the table and put them one by one into her backpack. "He's still the youngest, to ever join, I'm just the second."

"Hold on," Maes said, looking her over curiously. Jordan looked at him from the corner of her eye as she worked her backpack onto her shoulders, then began stacking over half a dozen books in her arms to be put away. "Would you happen to be Jordan, then? The girl who became the next youngest state alchemist just a couple months ago?"

"Yup. My reputation precedes me, I see," Jordan said indifferently as she began moving along the shelves, putting the volumes back where they belonged. "You know me, as half the military knows me and Ed, so what about you?"

Hughes picked up the rest of the books laying on the table and began putting them up. "Maes Hughes," he said. "I happen to know Edward fairly well myself. Didn't he teach you alchemy for your test?"

_Trust me, I know that you know him._ "Yeah, he did. We're pretty good friends. Well, were pretty good friends, anyway." Jordan sighed and put another book up on the shelf, standing on tip-toe in order to reach.

"Were?"

"Had to go our separate ways just a few days ago. I need to do study travel, and he and Al have better things to do then follow me around while I do. I could have gone with them, but then I would have just been a pain in the rear and slowed them down in their own progress." Jordan shrugged and put away the last book. Seeing that no more books were left on the table, she adjusted one of the straps to her backpack and made to leave. "Anyway, thanks for the help with that," she said cheerily.

"No problem," Maes said modestly. "But you said that you knew the two. Where are they headed now?"

"Ed and Al? I haven't the faintest clue," Jordan said with an embarrassed grin. "Probably out to look for that Philosopher's Stone of theirs, that's all I know. They didn't tell me where they were going when they boarded the train."

Maes gave her a curious look. "Well, I know about their story for Ed joining the military. What about you, though? Someone as young as you are wouldn't apply to be a state alchemist without a good reason."

"Wow. Colonel B- excuse me, Mustang never told you?" Jordan caught herself before she fully said her "pet name" for the higher ranked officer. "It's technically his fault."

Jordan went on to explain her story on how she got herself into the military. Strangely, it felt good to talk to somebody. Jordan was usually rather solitary for a girl her age. Maes listened with interest, occasionally making a comment or stopping to ask about something.

Past that, they actually wound up talking for the better part of a half hour. Jordan thought she'd found another book on a shelf and wanted to skim through it before she left, and Hughes didn't find it necessary to leave himself, so they wound up sharing a fairly interesting conversation. Jordan was careful to skirt around the subject of her being around the library and looking up such strange subjects.

"Hm, guess I'll take this with me," Jordan said, flipping the pages of the book before slapping it shut and tucking it under her arm.

"Where you headed to now?" Hughes asked, hands in his pockets.

"Back to the inn," Jordan said. "Probably going to leave tomorrow, so I want to get at least a tiny bit of sleep." She put a hand in her pocket and turned it inside out. "Not that I can afford it much longer."

"Nonsense. No friend to Ed and Al has to stay at an inn. Gracia won't mind a guest tonight," Hughes offered.

"What? No, I couldn't impose on you, Mr. Hughes," Jordan said, knowing full well where this conversation was going. "I'd rather stay at the inn."

"Absolute nonsense. Come along, one night won't hurt anybody." Before Jordan could open her mouth to yet again protest, she was being ushered out the door (quite against her will) and out of the headquarters building. When they passed the inn, Jordan knew she wasn't getting out of this any time soon.

Walking along the path, Hughes insisted on showing a rather disinterested Jordan more pictures than she believed was humanly possible to fit into a single wallet. She wondered if he even noticed when she took out her book and began reading it in hopes of finding information for her "quest".

"Isn't she just precious?" Maes said lovingly, hugging each of the small portraits as he showed them to Jordan. "She just has the voice of an angel, and as beautiful as her mother."

"Yes, mm-hm, your daughter Elicia is adorable, Mr. Hughes," she said distantly.

Yup, he was too wrapped up in his world to notice.

This went on until they reached the small home of Maes and his family. Jordan wound up hanging back behind the older man, tucking her book under her arm and feeling rather uncomfortable.

An awkward introduction took place, but it wasn't long before Jordan felt right at home, which was among the strangest things for her. It was the first time in a long time that she'd been treated like part of the family.

Later, she found herself sitting cross-legged on a chair in the guest room, beginning to get sick of seeing so many books despite the bookworm she was. Left hand held open her alchemy book, her journal balanced on her knee, and her right hand holding her quill delicately, the tip of the feather pursed between her lips as she tried to think beyond a haze of alchemic theories and black letters on stark white paper.

A gentle tug on the leg of her trousers interrupted her unfocused thoughts. Jordan looked down to see a little girl with long, braided blonde hair and wide blue eyes, staring up at her in awe.

"Hi," Jordan said sweetly. The introduction to Elicia was the one she missed. "What's your name?"

"Elicia," the girl said in a cute voice.

"Elicia? Really? That's a lovely name," Jordan said. Usually, she didn't enjoy the company of younger children, but she had an odd soft spot for this one. "How old are you?"

The little girl opened her mouth as if to answer, then stopped and looked down at her chubby hands, seeming to count out something on her fingers. "Thwee!" She soon answered enthusiastically, holding up the appropriate number of fingers.

"Wow, you're getting to be a big girl!" Jordan laughed and ruffled Elicia's hair, though she had to hold the quill in her teeth to manage the feat. She glanced up to see Gracia and Maes standing in the doorway, and wondered exactly how long they'd been watching. Realizing how odd she must look with a feather in her mouth, she immediately took out the quill and set it down on her journal.

With a smile, Gracia beckoned Elicia to her side. "It's about time Elicia went to bed," she said softly, and took her daughter out, leaving just the colonel and Jordan.

"Thank you for letting me stay for the night," Jordan said with a small bow of her head.

"It's not a problem. Pretty little girl like you can't be wandering around on her lonesome," Hughes said.

"Heh, guess so," Jordan agreed. "Still, thanks a lot."

Hughes left shortly thereafter, leaving Jordan on her own. She put away all her things, arranging them neatly in her backpack so nothing would break, then lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Moonlight shone through the window, dappling the blankets she lay upon in silvery white light. Jordan looked through the pane of glass from the corner of her eye, offering just a small view of the crescent moon outside, and the dots of brilliant light that were the stars.

"Hm...without Ed and Al around, being on my own...I feel so small now," she mused in a whisper, her last thought before she fell asleep.

--------------------

The next morning, all that remained of her stay was a simple note, on a piece of paper. It explained that she had to leave early and didn't want to disturb anyone. Left behind on the note was also about twenty cens as a sort of payment for the stay.

Jordan made sure to stop by the headquarters library and return the book. Several military officers stopped to look at the quiet girl as she passed by, simply sliding the thick tome onto the shelf and leaving without a trace.

She thought about the night before as she waded her way through the crowds, trying to make it to the station in one piece. It was the first time in a while she had been treated like family.

Maybe being alone wasn't all it was cut out to be.

Jordan sighed and skimmed the listings of trains and the time they left.

Next stop: Central. East City sure hadn't done anything for her. Besides, maybe in Central, she could find somebody to help.

-----

_Review please...That's all I got to say._


	20. A New Friend

_Dammit. Well, no review responses right here in this chapter. Reason being, I wrote them here twice, and before I could save them I wound up misclicking on my toolbar and changed windows, thus erasing them. Twice. So, I gave out the late individual replies. Sorry guys. XP_

_And you know what? Writing this chapter tortured me. I had to go watch the last episode in order to get some information, and since it's been awhile since I've sat down and watched it (my dish providers cut Cartoon Network off our listings months ago, so no anime at all for me), I sat there and was practically freaking out about watching the end of the show again. Oh, the sadness._

_Kinda creepy though, since I looked it up and just started watching a middle segment (somebody posted the episode in three pieces, so I took the middle one), the first thing I saw was Mustang holding up a skull and lighting a puddle of blood on fire. Naturally, my first thoughts were, "What the hell?" Of course, it didn't help that the video was in Japanese and the subtitles were in Spanish or something. _

_But, enough about that.  
_

**Dragon: Guys, come on, just because you aren't right here in the story doesn't mean you have to leave my disclaimer stories!**

**_Absolutely nothing._**

**Dragon: Dang it! Come back to me! Wait...I just admitted these were disclaimer things. Noooo!... **

* * *

The scenery reflected in the lenses of her glasses and in her eyes, but she didn't notice any of it as she stared out the window, her elbows propped up on a small desk and her chin resting in the palm of her hand. 

Jordan sighed, thinking of little to nothing. Her mind jumped from one track to the next, one subject to another. Another night at the inn, another several books scattered around, another evening finding only the tiniest tidbits of information that could possibly be of use.

Another boring night.

She slid her head fully into her hands, but continued to stare beyond the pane of glass, unblinking. The muscles in her legs cried out for movement, but she ignored the slight pain. She was in a daze, no doubt.

Most of a journal entry was written on a clean page of her book. Jordan had yet to finish writing it; she'd stopped long enough ago the ink had already dried on its own accord.

She blinked a few times, then looked down at all the things she had scattered among herself and her desk. Putting the quill into her bottle of ink, she flipped back several pages to the night she'd stayed with Mr.Hughes and his wife.

_"You have been spotted by Maes Hughes," _she read, rereading a quote she'd remembered seeing somewhere back home and written in her journal for the occasion. _"He is armed with photos. Obvious exits: None." _Jordan snickered under her breath; she'd seen it for herself and now felt she could use this at will.

After that, she went back to the page she'd been working on today, and skimmed the handwriting.

_It's been about a week now,_ she read again.

_Only one stupid week, give or take a few days. Maybe two weeks, then? Somewhere around there. I've yet to find anything at all in these thousands of stupid alchemy books. I never thought I'd get to say this, but I'm actually tired of reading, and I'm tired of the subject of alchemy._

_I'm just tired of this._

_I sound like some whiny little kid, but it's true. I've been doing so much studying. I've been on my own. I'm just sick of it all. I want to go home. See my friends, my family, get updated on my _life _again. _

_You know, it's really at times like these where I wish I could play tennis here in Amestris. Get a racket, a court, and go beat the crap out of some stupid little fuzzy ball until I break the racket strings or the ball's burned up with friction or something. Great stress relief, as I've learned from experience playing._

_But until I get home, if I ever do, I get to sit on my butt, moving train-to-train and city-to-city, and think about every stupid thing that I don't really want to. _

_What I wouldn't give to even see my brother, Eric, of all things. Heck, maybe even some of those old preppy girls from school that i hated so much. Just a familiar face in general, even if they hate me, would be nice.  
_

_I have to say, this time has really given me a chance to think of some things (it's like riding the bus at home; you get way too much time to sit and think of nothing). And, I think I've come to a first in my life. Something that's going to be really hard to admit, even though nobody else will ever read this but me. I guess maybe it's because I'm afraid I'm going to look back on this and think, "How stupid could I have been?" But, I guess I have a little confession I should put here. It counts as my adventures in Amestris, technically.  
_

_Maybe, just maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe-_

The entry stopped here. Jordan had to stop to think about where she was really going to go with the following statement to be written. She reached for her quill again to finish the day's writing, then stopped and dropped her head back into her hands, staring out as the sun began to set and cast a myriad of colors over the sky.

She drifted back into abstract thoughts, trying to think if any information, new or old, would help her to get home. Obviously, trying to transcend dimensions wasn't easy. She just hoped there would be something in Central that would be of use to her.

Her thoughts turned toward her normal life; where she could just stay home, play a few video games, check out an impossible number of books from the library, and actually get to play her tennis. Stay home and pretend all these things never would happen in real life. Stay home, watch a few episodes of what used to be a fantastic anime instead of her life, and just enjoy that.

Pff, home was nothing anymore.

Jordan thought back to the days when watching "Full Metal Alchemist" meant she sat on her rear and watched the animated work of Arakawa-sensei, not trying to remember exactly how to _be_ the work of Arakawa-sensei.

A sudden thought clicked into her mind.

At the very end of the series, something that had yet to happen in this world but she'd seen happen. When Edward had (would?) sacrificed his own life to bring Alphonse back to this world, and was taken to the other world (her world). That was episode 51, the one she considered basically the most depressing segment of the show.

And now one that was giving her possibilities.

She flipped to an empty page and began writing, thinking quickly. She started with the basics. It wasn't that the body of the person in question was moved, it was that their soul was, in effect. Ed's soul had been moved from his body in Amestris to that of a boy in London who was the same in physical construct; blonde hair, amber eyes, prosthetic limbs, down to the last detail. It was kind of like the Gate was a mirror between the two worlds.

As Jordan scratched this down quickly in her book, she stopped to think. That had to mean the same was for her, right?

"Oh man, that is a creepy thought," she murmured, dipping her quill in the ink and continuing to write.

Ed had (again, would?) used transmutation circles on his body for the exchange to work, she remembered. She paused in her notes, and then began writing down where she could remember them.

One circle on the chest, one on each forearm, and one on the forehead. That's where they were.

Just as the elation for possibly have finally found the solution was rising, Jordan thought of something else that entirely deflated her last hour's work. Two things, actually.

"Damn," she swore. "There is a conspiracy against me going home." She sighed, and voiced aloud the problems with her plan. "I need a Grand Arcanum transmutation array, like Ed had or will have, and I don't have a freakin' soul to bring here as an exchange for mine!" She pounded her fist against the desk "So close. . . .Just so close this time. . . ."

Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes, but she scrubbed them away on her wrist. Crying would get her absolutely nowhere.

But still. . .so close. . . .

Jordan slapped her hand, palm-down, on the desk again. "Think positive," she told herself. "Maybe this won't work the way it is now, but that doesn't mean it can't be a base to build up from." She looked at the notes she'd finished scratching down. There could be a way, somehow, to work around her flaws. A Grand Arcanum array was actually within her limits; could take her awhile, but it could be done. It was just the equivalent exchange she had to worry so much about.

Just that. . . .

"Gah!" Jordan crossed her arms and dropped her head onto them over the desk. "This feels so hopeless. Like Central is going to help anything tomorrow."

--------------------

"And I was right. Central isn't helping anything," Jordan sighed as she closed one book and stood on tip-toe to put it up on the shelf again the next afternoon. She'd been in one of Central's several libraries for the last hour and a half. She had actually found a few new things that might help her, now that she had found an idea to work from, but it still wasn't nearly enough.

She checked her backpack to make sure she had everything, then turned and left the library. She was in desperate need of a break.

Once outside, Jordan scoped out a small sweets shop a little farther down the street. Feeling the need for something with sugar, she ran down and disappeared inside, then reappeared outside again with a small bar of chocolate in her hands.

"Comfort food," she said to herself with a shrug.

She walked down the street to nowhere in particular, enjoying her sweet treat and re-reading some of her notes. Despite the busy crowds, she was able to successfully maneuver between people without collisions. No, she wasn't going anywhere, but sometimes a nice walk was just something one needed.

Jordan paused after awhile to neatly fold her chocolate wrapper and put it in her pocket. While she was doing this, something tickled against her ankle. She absently rubbed the toe of her shoe against the tickled spot.

However, whatever it was, it was persistent. The tickle came again. Jordan looked down to see what was bothering her. . .was a black kitten, with a long white mark on its belly.

"Hi," she said to the young cat. He stared up at her with wide gold eyes, and mewed. "Should you be out here?" Jordan asked.

Naturally, she didn't get a response.

She knelt down and rubbed the kitten's head. "Why do the cats always bother me, whatever world I'm in?" she asked rhetorically. An odd thought came to mind. She picked up the cat and held it up to eye level. "You aren't Envy in disguise or anything, are you?"

He mewed again.

"Nope. But either way, you gotta leave me alone now. I'd love to keep you, but I can't." Jordan ran her hand down the cat's sleek fur one last time, then put him down, slid her journal into her backpack, and stood to leave. As she stood, the contents of her backpack came tumbling out onto the sidewalk. Papers and books scattered all over, while her ink bottle shattered on the ground and the ink leaked from the pieces of dark glass. Her quill was slammed underneath one of her books, though luckily remained intact.

Jordan swore and began to gather up the clutter. Luckily her ink had fallen far enough away from everything else that nothing was permanently stained black.

Once the ink and its bottle was transmuted back together and everything was put into her backpack, Jordan though something was still missing; her bag was too light. She dropped her bag onto the ground again, the zipper wide open to reveal the new neatness of the interior, and turned to look for the missing object.

A minute of searching turned up her journal; it had skittered farther away than everything else had. Happy that she'd found it, Jordan put it into a different pouch, zipped up the entire bag, and slipped the straps over her shoulders. It felt a little heavier than usual, for some reason, but she shrugged it off.

--------------------

Back at the inn later that evening, Jordan carelessly threw her backpack onto her bed and sat at her desk again, contemplating her next course of action. Perhaps spend a couple more days in Central for research, then move on. . . .Did her backpack just squeak when it hit the bed?

Jordan frowned, then looked toward her bag. It began to rustle slightly, and made another squeaking noise. Curious as to what it was, Jordan stood up slowly, then moved to unzip the larger pouch, where the movement seemed to be coming from.

A black head poked up from the opening immediately after the zipper was pulled back Surprised to see something emerge from the backpack, Jordan jumped back as a small cat, with a white mark on its stomach, crawled cautiously onto the blankets.

It was the same kitten that had bothered her earlier that afternoon.

"Holy crap" was all the surprised teenager had to say, at first. In fact, the cat was the first to break the silence, meowing pitifully, presumably from the bumpy ride it had taken. "When did you get in there?"

Jordan thought back, then remembered. She'd left the her bag open when she was gathering everything that had fallen out, and then. . . .

"You sneaky little bugger," she reprimanded the cat. She picked him up and was going to take him back outside when a loud clap of thunder sounded loudly beyond her window. Heavy rain suddenly began pounding against the glass and against the inn's roof. "Well, so much for that plan." The thirteen year old gently placed the kitten on the bed again. "You're a pain."

She looked him over in hopes of finding a tag or something identifying him. No collar, no tags, nothing. Actually, it appeared as if he'd been abandoned. Now that she had a closer look, Jordan saw the kitten was rather thin.

"Oh man, you weren't actually left out there, were you?" she asked. Jordan couldn't stand to see abused animals, and felt anybody who left pets out like that were cruel and terrible. "Gah, I really shouldn't do this, but I guess you're my new companion, if nobody wants you."

The cat gazed up at her with hopeful eyes, as if he could understand everything the girl was saying.

"Guess we should name you, huh?" Jordan stared at him for a minute. "Blade. Why not Blade?" It was different and it was cliche; that's what Jordan liked about it. Plus, with the long, snow-white mark on his otherwise all-black body, it seemed strangely fitting. When the kitten pawed at the hem of her pants leg, it was decided. "Blade it is, then."

That night, Jordan actually felt as if something had been filled in for her life, having a new pet, when she slipped off into the comforting realm known as sleep. She had a feeling that the newly christened Blade was about to be her best friend for awhile.

-----

_Huh. This chapter came out a little differently than I thought, but whatever. Review, please. _;3


	21. What a Thief Can Cause

_Okay, I'm going to apologize for something now. The motherboard in my dad's laptop was completely fried, one way or another, and so my updates are probably gonna start slowing down more, because I usually did most of my writing on the laptop. I'll do my best, under the current circumstances. #salutes#_

**IMPORTANT THING HERE! Please read!  
**

_Erm, well, not terrible important. But, I want you to notice! _

_I'm planning to do one of my drawings I've so far mentioned in this fan fiction. You guys, my blissful, lovable readers, need to drop off a review with which one you want me to do. I'll take a popular vote, then I'll go draw it and post it on my online art account, accessible via my profile web page. Believe it!_

_Naruto is rubbing off on me, I apologize..._

Celedeen Tachibana: Don't worry, not in pain from the glomp. I'm rather used to it. #sweatdrops# Anyway, I'm glad part of your good mood is due to my updates. I wish I could've gone to that museum. Shiny objects!

Shiori Kurokase: Hm, well, I'm glad my review glitch bit back there didn't bug someone, eh? Well, I'm not so sure about your review problem there; I've never had that happen to me before. If I knew, I'd help, but . . . I've no solutions. Me and my not-so-usefulness. I'll try to take a look at your story, now that I think about it, if I ever decide to not be lazy about it.

Kamisori Kazi no Renkinjutsu: Ahh! Don't kill Blade! #steals back Blade# I need him alive!#huggle# Hm, I think you do say I rock every chapter. I'm not complaining, of course. #wink wink#

A Falling Angel: Yay. I'm glad my kitty companion idea turned out good. Everyone seems to like Blade; 'tis a good thing. Also, I'm glad you seem to think my last episode idea thing came out well also. It was, like, a last minute thing there. I was never planning that to begin with. O.o

Cha-chan-hyper: Um . . . . Don't go all emo on me. Oh, and who said I had any sanity?

Liah Cauthon: I will do my best, forever and always! For the most part. XD

Caspercat22: Yay for the cat, says I. Here's the next chapter; enjoy.

Wandering Hitokiri: I didn't so much take your quote as I used a quote that the two of us found on Youtube (that's where I got it, actually). So there. #sticks tongue out at you# #winks#

Cooolkat and Rookie: Ew...Yeah, eight hours straight travel sucks. I can forgive you for a short review, in that instance. Trust me; I recently got back from Washington, D.C., and I was stuck on planes for hours straight. No fun. XP

Purple Ghost Sausage: I'm glad you like Blade's name. I actually got that from my late dog Sabre; I like the weaponry names, so I used Blade after my dog Sabre. :3 Whoo! Another tennis fan!

Rikdo Osaka: Chapter twenty-one is here...I don't know if I'll have Armstrong, I never really thought about it...Et cetera, et cetera...

**Dragon: So if I admit now that I don't own "Fullmetal Alchemist," the dress'll stay?**

**Lawyer: That is true.**

**Dragon: Awesome.**

**Lawyer: Now, please.**

**Dragon: #gets a digital camera# I don't own "FMA". . . . **

**Ed: Damn it! **

**Dragon: Ed, leave the dress on, I want pictures first . . . .**

* * *

"You eat too much, Blade, are you aware of that?" Jordan asked, expertly flicking her bangs alongside the lenses of her glasses as she offered another shred of bacon to the black-and-white kitten sitting on her bed. Blade simply looked up, meowed, and snapped up the piece of meat on his claw, then set to work tearing it into manageable bites. "I don't think you are." 

It had been quite a burden attempting to hide Blade wherever she went for the past two days. The inn managers had begrudgingly welcomed the cat, but in libraries, Blade had to be hidden in her slightly opened backpack, or bundled in her jacket on her lap. Of course, it wasn't as difficult to keep him out of sight as it was to get him to keep quiet. Many a time she'd almost been exposed when he mewed, for attention or otherwise, in a perfectly sound room.

The thirteen year old sighed, and affectionately rubbed the top of her companion's head. Finished with his meal, he leaned into her caresses, purring in contentment. Jordan smiled; despite the hassle, it had been months since she'd had the comfort of an animal friend, and Blade was readily welcomed.

"H-hey, don't grab that!" She exclaimed suddenly. Blade had decided that her necklace was an interestingly-shaped toy, and had his sharp claws hooked around the chain. He pulled on it, insisting that he be given the shiny object. "You can't have that!" Jordan berated, and unhooked his paw from the silver. As soon as she did, his attention turned to her long bangs, hanging down within his reach.

Jordan gave the cat a long stare, then resigned to letting him bat his paws at her hair, resting her chin in her palm to keep herself in a comfortable position while Blade played. She held up the dragon necklace, letting it dangle in front of her eyes but away from Blade.

It looked different, for some reason. It took a second, but she was able to figure it out. Over time, the red splotches had worn away, and revealed the plain silvery metal once again. She regarded it in mild interest, then shrugged and let the dragon fall back against her chest.

"What time is it?" She wondered aloud. Taking out her watch, she saw it was right about noon. Lunch break was over; it was time to go back to the library and hope all those books she'd left open hadn't been put away yet.

"C'mon Blade, time to go back to our book labor," she said, hefting the feline into her arms. "Well, my labor, anyway. You can't read."

Blade wiggled from her arms and crawled his way up to her shoulder, where he was perfectly content to sit. Jordan chuckled lightly as his fur grazed her ear.

"You can't stay there for long," she said as she pulled on her backpack and made her way downstairs.

People gave her questioning stares as she walked through Central, back toward the nearest library at which she had been recently working. Having a cat on her shoulder seemed to attract attention, making Jordan uncomfortable and exasperated. Adding to this was the springtime heat of the city; she was overly sensitive to warmth, and could hardly bear to be outside during late spring and summer.

By the time she'd finished the ten minute walk back to the library and gently arranged Blade in her open bag to be hidden from view, Jordan was even more unenthusiastic about her study then she was before she'd began the trek. With a resigned sigh, she found her table in the back of the main room, sat down in a hard-backed wooden chair, put Blade in her lap, and cracked open another book.

For the next twenty minutes, she absently scratched out notes from her books into her journal, flipping pages (and giving herself a nasty paper cut in the absentminded process) and rubbing Blade's ears to keep him content and in place.

Then, of course, as Jordan later blamed her karma, she ran out of ink.

Through half-lidded eyes, she stared into hazy letters on the pages, clicking the tip of her quill against the bottom of her inkwell for several minutes until it finally registered in her sleepy mind that there was no shiny black liquid clinging to the shaft of the feather.

"Damn it," she murmured without any enthusiasm. She let the quill slip from her fingers and clack into the bottle, then lazily reached into the small sand pouch in her bag, sprinkled a pinch of the grains over the ink to let it dry, then pushed everything out of the way to rest her head in the crook of her arm on the table.

"Why's it have to be hot?" the girl moaned. "Not even halfway through April and it's starting to feel like summer. Can't it just be winter again?"

As she looked to the books, she began thinking, not for the first time, the possible simplicity of getting a tutor to help. Somebody who knew more about alchemy than she did, who could teach her more and perhaps help her with her goal.

"Be funny if I could get Izumi to teach me," she mused. Jordan allowed her eyes to slowly flutter closed, then fell into a doze, feeling more exhausted than she really was.

Unlike her usual periods of rest, her sleep was filled with odds-and-ends dreams; most of them covering her past experiences as of late. Memories of time spent with Edward and Alphonse resurfaced, along with the joys and pains of each. She even went back to her alchemist's exam . . . the pre-test jitters, the morbid fear she would make a mistake, the reassuring comfort of Ed's hand on her shoulder . . . .

Wait a minute, that last one felt too real.

"Miss? I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you'll have to leave." A well-dressed, bespectacled woman shook the sleeping teenager gently by the shoulder, attempting to wake her up. The voice cut through her dreams, and with a groan in protest, Jordan eased into opening her eyes.

"What, come again?" she asked, doing her best not to slur her words in typical "not a morning person" fashion.

"I said, you'll need to leave now," the librarian reiterated. "Your cat can't be here."

It was at this moment Jordan became aware of the warm furry thing she had on her lap. She looked down to Blade, then up at the smiling woman and said, "Sorry. I just can't leave him anywhere alone."

"I understand," the lady said gently. "I own some pets of my own, so I know what it's like, but you'll have to take him out now."

"Alright, I can do that," Jordan agreed with a lopsided smile.

--------------------

"So, Blade," Jordan started, "Where to now? We've probably got to find another train and get ourselves going, don't we?"

Everything in the library had been gathered up and put away. Now they meandered through the city, browsing items in windows and, in Jordan's case, fighting the drowsiness that came with the stifling humidity of the outdoors.

As she walked, she passed by a small bookshop. The temptation was too great to resist, and although she had just slept for two and a half hours on a table and should keep going, she went inside.

She couldn't help an enthusiastic grin as she looked among the rows of shelves of books. Her eyes sparkled as she gazed upon the books. It was a small shop, but there were still several hundred titles sitting in the cases, practically begging Jordan to pick them.

"Oh man, it's been too long since I've bought a new fiction book," Jordan said in a small voice. Even back home, she didn't often get a new book to read; her family was tight on finances and couldn't afford the luxury often. She fingered the small black leather wallet in her back-right pocket.

That wasn't a problem now.

"Can I help you?" somebody asked behind her. Jordan turned quickly to see a man, dark hair mussed in an oddly professional way and in tan slacks and a white t-shirt, who had asked the question. He spoke with a faint British accent, which she found rather interesting and fitting.

"Oh, um, no, thanks, I'm just looking around right now," Jordan declined politely.

"Well, if you need anything, feel free to, er, let me know," the shop manager hesitated as he caught sight of Blade, sitting innocently on Jordan's left shoulder.

"All right, thanks," Jordan said, and began perusing the shelves.

It wasn't two minutes into her search when she was bothered again. This time it was by a boy of about fourteen. He was rearranging some books on a lower shelf when Jordan shuffled by slowly, looking for anything particularly eye-catching.

"Hey, need any help?" he inquired, startling the girl.

"What? Oh, no thanks," she said again. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" he pressed. "If you're looking for some type of book in particular-"

"No thank you," Jordan said, this time more forcefully. "I'm doing just fine on my own."

"Oh" was all the boy said. As Jordan began to move on, he got up and continued to pester her.

"Hey, you know, I don't see many girls come in here," he said. "Especially going back to look at the fantasy books," he added as Jordan moved toward that section of shelves.

"Well, I'm rather disconnected from the typical stereotyping of the female gender," she said, raising an eyebrow as she pulled a hardback book from the shelf and skimmed the story summary on the back.

"You're. . .what?"

"I'm a tomboy."

"Oh."

"Do you want something from me?" Jordan asked as she opened the book and started reading the first page.

"No, not really. It's just that, even though I work here with my dad, we just don't get many girls in here. It thought it was kind of interesting," he said. "My name's Jake, by the way."

Jordan rolled her eyes. "That's nice. Go away now, please." She looked over her shoulder at the older boy. Now that he mentioned it, he looked considerably like the man who had approached her before, except he wore glasses, unlike the elder, and was dressed more casually in jeans instead of slacks.

Jake didn't seem to hear her. "What about you?"

"Go away, please."

"That doesn't sound like a name."

"My name's Jordan. Now _please go away._" Jordan slid her book onto the shelf and took out the one next to it. "I'm simply in here for a book or two before I leave town. Is that okay with you?"

"Where are you traveling to?"

Figuring if she continued to answer his questions he would run out of steam, Jordan said, "Not sure yet. Out toward, um, Dublith, probably," she said, thinking of the first town name she could. "Western way."

Jake continued to ask questions for the next twenty minutes Jordan was browsing. She was only left to her peace after she paid for two books and left as quickly as she could without being conspicuous.

"Man, he was just one of the most irritating little buggers I've ever met," she said, shaking her head as she worked toward the train station. Blade ruffled the fur on his head with a paw and made a hissing sound as if in agreement.

--------------------

Later that afternoon, Jordan stretched out on a carriage seat, the train rumbling along the tracks to take her toward Rush Valley, a place well-known for its auto-mail professionals. She threw her wallet into her bag, then reached for one of her newly bought books. It was a hardbound black, with gold triangles in each corner of the front cover and the title "Draconic Legacy" in curly, blood-red script. A black ribbon was sewn into the binding so she could mark her place.

She began reading quietly, ignorant of Blade as he crawled onto her belly and curled up there to sleep. She was well lost in tales of elves and dragons, swordsman and thieves, for about an hour and a half.

And then she fell asleep again.

It was roughly seven-thirty (she'd passed out at six) when she awoke to sharp pokes in her stomach. Without even bothering to open her eyes, she prodded Blade with her hand.

"Quit it," she whispered almost inaudibly.

Then she froze. Somebody was rustling around in the previously empty carriage, and Blade had woken her up in alarm. She snapped open her eyes to see somebody digging through her backpack.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" she demanded. The figure looked up. Jordan recognized him immediately as the same teenage boy who had bothered her for almost half an hour at the book store.

Jake.

"Dude, what the-get out of my backpack!" she yelled. She yanked a protesting Blade off of her and swung her feet onto the floor. Jake pulled out a rectangular, black leather object, slammed open the carriage door, and bolted out. Jordan was right on his heels; he'd stolen her wallet, and that had all her money in it (at least a hundred cens). Blade ran after her, not wanting to be left behind.

As she pursued the thief down the corridor, it suddenly made sense why he'd asked so many questions. He knew she had money on her, and was obviously willing to pick her for information to follow her around and get it.

"You stupid good-for-nothing bastard! Get back here!" At this exclamation, among others, several people looked out of their own carriages to stare at the expletive-shouting thirteen-year-old on the hunt for revenge. Jordan bumped into one such woman and was barely able to say an "I'm sorry" before she was gone again.

Jordan's mind was quickly calculating a way to put alchemy to her advantage, given her present surroundings. If she was careful, she could probably pull enough metal from the sides and floor of the train to hold down Jake long enough to get her wallet back.

She clapped her hands together and was about to dip down to the floor to perform her transmutation when a flash of blue light behind her distracted her from the intended course of action. Jordan glanced back to see a dark-haired woman bent down to the floor, then looked ahead again to see Jake . . .

. . . was already trapped.

Metal was entwined around his shoes and held him in place to the floor, while a tendril of steel emerged from the wall and held to her wallet. Jordan approached this, plucked her wallet from where it was held, and slipped it into her back pocket once more. That finished, she promptly transmuted Jake free, returning the corridor to its original appearance.

"Hey, I ought to return the favor," she said in a sugary tone.

It didn't settle well with Jake.

Jordan's sweet smile twisted into a scowl as she gave him a hard right hook to the jaw. Jake reeled back, wincing at the blow, then attempted to walk away. Jordan grabbed a fistful of his shirt and held him back.

"Steal anything else from anybody on this train?" she hissed. "I swear, you'd best give it back."

"Oh really?" Jake scoffed. "What do you plan to do about it?"

"A lot. Did that punch not give you a good excuse? I can do alchemy. Can you?"

Jake stiffened, then slowly reached into his pocket and produced a few more items; another brown wallet, somebody's watch, and some other things of potential value. Jordan took them, transmuted a small box from the train wall, and put the stolen possessions into it, then roughly pushed Jake on his way.

"Bastard," she said again as he rounded a corner.

Jordan took the box and began going carriage to carriage, asking people if any of the things in the box belonged to them. After a short while, everything was returned joyfully to its rightful owner. When she was finished, she picked up Blade in her arms and tuned to leave, but almost ran into the same woman who'd just helped her to catch Jake.

"Oh, um, thanks for the help there," Jordan said gratefully. "You didn't have to do that, though."

"Well, if you ran into me while trying to catch him, I supposed it was something important," the woman said.

"Ouch, that was you? Really sorry about that," Jordan apologized again. She looked past her, at the floor, itching to see what the transmutation circle this person had used looked like.

There was none.

"That was some amazing alchemy," Jordan said.

"It wasn't anything big," the woman said.

Jordan took a good look at the woman. She took in the dark eyes, the hair twisted into braids and tied up, the sleeveless white shirt. Jordan suddenly recognized who this was.

"No, really, it was great!" she said. "You didn't even have to use a circle or anything! I mean, you did just stop a thief who'd been stealing from everybody here. It's a pretty cool thing!

"And," Jordan went on, hesitating on whether she should continue. Then the words were out of her mouth before her brain could protest. "I would be honored if you could teach me more of alchemy!" As she said the last of her sentence, she bowed her head and stared at the floor.

Izumi Curtis stared down at Jordan, blinking a couple of times at the strange proclamation

* * *

_So . . .was anybody expecting that at all? P Regardless, review please! And don't forget to tell me which drawing you want me to do!_


	22. Day Number One

_I'm so happy. It looks like I'm definitely going to make that goal of 200 reviews before the end of this story. _

_Hey, hey, guess what? Let's try for 300. Might be a bit of a stretch, but ya'll love me enough to try, right?_

_Oh, and I am working on the drawing. I'm going to go ahead and do the one with Ed, Al, and Jordan (the one that Jordan sent the brothers when they boarded the train), because it's simple, and some people weren't very specific ("You should do the one with all three of you!") when they said to do the group picture. It's going to take me awhile, though. Reason being: I am the ADHD poster child. Honestly. I need to have multiple things to work on to keep me entertained. _

Dancing Nightmare: You went out _again?_ Holy crap, your parents have a conspiracy against you keeping up with reading fan fictions, huh? #sweatdrops# Oh well, at least you always get back up to speed before too long, right? Anyway, to tell the truth, I would've taken Blade in right away too; I love cats and they freakin' love me. I was just having her hesitate in the chapter because of her traveling and all that. And whoo, you guessed Izumi!

Coolkat and Rookie: Good. You didn't expect it. I didn't want you to, anyway! l3 I feel Jordan's pain too (well, duh). I get the weirdest looks from people, guys and girls, when they see me reading a book by R.A. Salvatore or when I'm reading manga during school. #rolls eyes# Idiots. Don't worry, everybody is brain-dead sometimes.

Shiori Kurokase: Glad you fixed your problem. Problems aren't fun (unless you're the one that's causing them, of course!). Also glad you liked the pickpocket scene. Whoo! Izumi's one of my favorite characters, too. Not sure why.

Liah Cauthon: Okay, well, everybody has to be hyper or there is no meaning to life. For this, I forgive you. XD

Diconulis Samurai: I give up with the capitals in your name. #sweatdrops# Anyway, I know my chapters have been a little boring as of late. Just kind of filler chapters until I can really get into some of the action (Izumi's test, anyone?). I take no offense for what I also realize.

Wandering Hitokiri: O.O Why are you shaking uncontrollably? Actually, don't answer that. Forget I ever asked. Anywho, go for abusing characters! (Man, oh man, wait 'til I get there.)

Cha-chan-hyper: Hmph. Has been a little while, hasn't it? #shrugs# Ah, at least I haven't been forgotten, eh? Don't think too hard of everything, I fear for your health. As for how much ramen costs. . . I have no idea. Reason being, my parents do all the food shopping. :3

Mew Sarin Alchemist: Whoa, kinda weird when I manage to make people speechless. Very nice.

Celedeen Tachibana: Whee! All falls into place, just as I hoped. Good. I've always known rocks to be interesting (got a shelf half-full of the things).

Caspercat22: Yep, Izumi hath entered the scene. I'd hate to be me, too, when Izumi gives her the test. . . .Wait a minute. . . .Damn it! I'm me! Eh heh heh. . . .Just read the stupid chapter.

A Falling Angel: I know, I've always thought Izumi looks really good with dreds, too. XD She's awesome; kicks butt and is just plain cool. Poor Jordan, though; I don't want to count them broken bones once her tenure with Izumi's finished. Eh heh . . .I abuse my characters.

Kisa44: Glad ya like it. #head hurts, no good responses readily available#

Kamisori Kaze no Renkinjutsu: Izumi rocks! Yay! Wait, what happened in the movie? #is still saving up to buy it and hasn't watched it online in awhile# Huh. Thanks!

Purple Ghost Sausage: Whoo for being alike! Go fantasy books and glasses! I've always wanted an animal that could travel on my shoulder (the closest I've ever come is hamsters), so I'm living that through Blade! Go me and small animals! And exclamation points!

AJ: #blink blink# Um, okay, glad you like my story.

**Ed: Oh man, she's not going to have fun with Izumi, is she?**

**Dragon: Nope. I abuse my characters.**

**Ed: Wait a minute, so does that mean-**

**Dragon: You're screwed a hundred times over when I get to you.**

**Al: Oh boy . . . .**

**Dragon: Heh heh heh . . . .I'm still not doing the disclaimer. Should be obvious by now. **

* * *

"No." 

"I refuse to give up on this!"

"No."

"I'm serious!"

"Why do you want to learn alchemy from me so badly anyway!" Izumi wheeled around to face the persistent teenager who'd followed her around for the last five minutes. "It's obvious you've already learned some!"

Jordan faltered; how to answer this?

_I hate being so terrible with words,_ she thought in dismay.

"Well?" Izumi demanded, slamming a hand against the door to the carriage next to her. Jordan flinched at the resulting metallic bang, but relaxed as the older woman slid the door open and began to step inside. Izumi paused, still expecting an answer.

"Because," Jordan started, "Because I want to learn more. I've only a week's worth of crammed knowledge of alchemy training, taught to me by someone barely older than I am. If I know more, I can do more, for those who need it." She shifted Blade in her arms to keep him from trying to leap for freedom.

Izumi gave her a long, hard stare. "You were the one foolish enough to take only that small amount of training," she said smoothly.

"Like it was my fault!" Jordan protested. "I was on a severe deadline. I studied as hard as I could, but I know I could do a lot better with more proper training. Hence why I'm asking you."

Almost as if beginning to consider the prospect, Izumi asked, "Who was your last mentor?"

"Edward and Alphonse Elric."

The names seem to hang heavily in the air between them. Jordan was afraid she'd made a mistake having told Izumi of the brothers' teachings. However, she pressed on.

"Well, regardless, I still want to learn from you! They told me about you, and I-" Jordan stumbled over her words. "I said this before, but I'd be honored to learn from the one who taught my original mentors." She stared, almost glaringly, up at Izumi.

Izumi, in slight shock, looked back at the girl. Behind the glasses, she saw the same fiery determination flickering in her eyes as she'd seen in the boys when she'd taken them under her wing.

"Some of their stubborness wore off onto you, didn't it?" Izumi asked rhetorically.

"Actually, they were the ones who had to put up with it."

"You're really determined to do this, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am."

"I won't be going as easy on you as the brothers might have."

"If anything, I want you to be harder."

Without explanation, Izumi turned to go into the carriage.

"Hey, you don't still think I'm going to-"

"If you're still serious, come on," Izumi interrupted.

Jordan stopped, blinked in surprise, then said, ever intelligently, "What?"

"I said, if you're still serious, come here," Izumi repeated, gesturing with one hand into the carriage. Jordan caught a glimpse of a small traveling bag that must have belonged to Izumi. "This train goes near to where I live. You don't expect your training to be carried out in a few hours on a train, do you?"

"N-no, of course not," Jordan said, feeling ridiculous. Then the last sentence sank in. "Wait, so you really intend to teach me alchemy?"

"That is what I said, isn't it? Now come on." Izumi stepped into the carriage, and before her ego could be further bruised Jordan followed.

As Jordan sat down and arranged Blade on her lap so as to get his claws out of her arm (and because a certain flash of silver in her pocket had caught her eye that she desperately wanted to hide now), Izumi said, "You'll need to tell your family, of course, that you'll be with me for the next seven months. That is, if you even pass your first test. If you don't, you'll be sent straight back home."

Jordan thought for a second, then picked up Blade, held him to eye level, and said in a stern voice and with a perfectly straight face, "Alright Blade. I'm going to be gone for seven months doing alchemy training and hopefully continuing to survive past that. If I die, you get everything in my backpack." She set a rather confused-appearing Blade back down, being sure to cover the pocket that held her watch, and said, "There, my family's been informed."

"You've no actual family?"

"I've been on my own for almost three months now, counting my time with Ed and Al. My parents had to go away awhile ago, and they never came back," Jordan lied. It was almost the truth; it was just that it was her that had left home and was yet to go back. How easily the lies came to her now!

Izumi's hard expression softened, then she asked, "So is that why is your cat traveling with you now?"

"No. I just found him a few days ago," Jordan responded, tracing the tips of the young feline's ears with one finger. "Somebody had left him on the streets, and after he followed me around for awhile I decided to take him in. Blade's a bit of a pain, but it's nice to have someone to travel with.

"But enough of this," Jordan said, dismissing the topic with a wave of her hand. "You said that before my training, I'd have to do some sort of test. What kind of test is it?"

"You'll just have to see when we get out there" was the only response Jordan could get. With a small sigh of resignation, she rested her head against the window to stare out beyond the glass at the rapidly darkening sky.

_Strange,_ she thought. _I thought the training was supposed to last for six months, not sev-_ Jordan cut off her thoughts with a sudden realization of what the test was.

--------------------

The boat bobbed gently in the swelling waves, the water sparkling merrily, even inviting, under the mid-day sun hanging in the clearest blue sky Jordan could remember seeing in quite a while. A small island loomed up ahead, green with plant life and a perfect backdrop in scenery.

Jordan knew she was going to come to despise that island.

She sat on the side of the small boat, staring out toward the island that she knew would be her home for the next month. Izumi sat, legs crossed, toward the boat's front, while a very muscular, well-built man (Jordan believed him to be Izumi's husband, but couldn't remember for sure) rowed from the back. Although Jordan was doing her best to put on a calm face, she was gripping the wooden edge so tightly her knuckles had gone pale.

"Get down from there," Izumi said coolly. She reached out and yanked on the offending teenager's long braid of hair to pull her from the side of the boat. It worked, and in a "graceful" manner Jordan tumbled backward to land in the bottom of the small boat, further rocking the craft in the water.

"Sorry," Jordan muttered, sitting up and leaning over the edge to gaze into the water, rubbing her newly bruised shoulder. She winced as Blade crawled up the back of her shirt to sit on the injury.

Perhaps fifteen minutes later, a grating sound of sand-on-wood announced the arrival to the island. Testing her footing after spending half an hour on water, without moving, Jordan stumbled as she climbed out of the craft, throwing Blade from her shoulder to roll into the sand. She quickly gathered him up and dusted him off, murmuring an apology to her friend.

"Do we begin our training here?" Jordan asked, though she knew the answer already.

"In a sense," Izumi replied. She picked up an item from the boat and threw it to Jordan, who, in one fluid motion, set Blade down gently on the sand and then caught the object in mid-air.

It was a leather sheath, holding a dagger-style knife.

"What do I need this for?" Jordan asked, pretending to look confused.

"To survive," Izumi answered plainly.

"Survive?"

"You'll be on this island for the next month," said Izumi, her dark eyes intently focused on her possible to-be apprentice. "You are to survive on your own until the end of that time. If you can't, that shows me that you aren't worth my time to train."

Jordan bit her lip nervously as she looked back to the jungle of vegetation behind her. She then looked back to the knife in her hands. Its weight was suddenly a comfort, rather than a strange feeling.

"By the way," Izumi added, "There's no alchemy permitted while you are here. You are to survive on your own, with nothing but the knife you have now."

"I understand," Jordan said, bowing her head.

"And one last thing," Izumi said, just as Jordan believed herself to be in the clear. " 'All for one and one for all.' You must be able to tell me exactly what that means. If you can't, you'll fail."

" 'All for one and one for all', " Jordan repeated under her breath.

Izumi turned to get back in the boat with her husband, all ready to leave. At this exact moment, Blade pawed at Jordan's leg, and she came to a quick decision.

"Wait!" Jordan called, scooping up the cat in her arms. When Izumi turned around, she held up her companion. "Could you please take care of Blade while I'm out here?"

"Why? You don't want him with you?"

"Not here. It'll be too dangerous," came the answer. "He's young, and I can't afford him wandering off and getting hurt or killed. It'd be my fault if he did. I won't let that happen, so I don't even want him here. I can risk being alone for a month if it means he'll stay safe."

Izumi acted for a moment as if she wouldn't even consider the notion, but eventually had to agree. The girl worried more for her pet's safety than just having him around for her own sake; Izumi could admire that.

"Fine. Put him in the boat," she directed. Relieved, Jordan did so quickly.

Izumi climbed into the boat again. "See you in a month," she said simply as the craft pushed away from land and out into the open water.

"You can count on it," Jordan said, crossing her arms defiantly.

Jordan watched for several minutes as the boat disappeared among the waves. It was only about three minutes, however. Standing around burning daylight wasn't going to boost her chance of survival at all.

She turned back toward the jungle, and immediately felt her heart beat faster and all the color drain from her face.

Hell. That's what this was going to be, wasn't it?

--------------------

"Perfect," she said as she stumbled into a clearing. It was small, but there was enough space for her to set up a fire and make a shelter.

Several hours of searching hadn't revealed much. This was the first place she'd found suitable enough for a camp, and she'd yet to find anything that would fit the description of "edible." But, there was still tomorrow.

Jordan's stomach grumbled loudly in protest of not having a meal. She groaned; this was going to take some time getting used to.

"Man, I'm gonna need food tomorrow, and water," she began checking off her needs as she bustled around her newfound "haven," gathering stones to ring a pit for her fire and some wood to burn (though how she was going to create a flame to do this was beyond her). "Fresh water first, I can live without food longer. Then I'll look for-"

She stopped suddenly as she leaned on one hand against a tree. The bark felt strange to the touch; the surface was patterned differently. Lifting her hand, she was surprised by what she saw.

Six groups of five etched-in marks marred the trunk's surface. Thirty marks in all. Thirty days in all. This was where Edward and Alphonse had marked their own stay a few years back.

Jordan ran her fingers lightly over the time marking; weather had eroded the sharpness of the etchings, but they were still there, clear as crystal. Drawing the knife she'd been given (she'd used a bit of thin vine to tie it to her belt loop, so as not to lose it), she gouged out an inch-long line perhaps a foot underneath the brothers' marks.

Day number one.

Later, when a small hole had been hand-dug out of the soft ground and filled artistically with a few sticks and ringed with several well-chosen stones, Jordan sat, scraping the blade of her knife over the surface of a roughly surfaced rock about the size of her fist, trying to spark the wood into flames.

"Come on," she muttered, "I don't plan to freeze to death tonight. Man, what kind of pyro am I if I can't spark one stupid flame?"

Her cursing at her inability to warm herself was interrupted by loud crashings through the fauna. Jordan stopped to listen, but it had stopped. Dismissing it as the wind through the branches, though now her senses on alert, she returned to her work.

Not three seconds later, the sounds came back again. Jordan whipped around, dropping her rock and jumping to her feet, in preparation of whatever it was.

The "whatever it was" made her breath catch in her throat.

A huge man, dark-skinned and at least twice her size, stood on the far side of her clearing. He wore a tribal mask, one that resembled a canine being, and held a large club in his hand. He was beyond intimidating; flat out, Jordan was scared to death.

He did not look the slightest bit pleased to see a thirteen-year-old girl there.

"Why are you here on my island?" he demanded in a low, rumbling voice.

"Ah . . . " Jordan had absolutely no idea how to answer this question. She took a step back, and then another, and another. "T-to pass for my training-"

"You do not belong here!" the tribal being snarled.

"Well, I can't really leave-"

The tribal man crossed the clearing in three long strides. Frozen in fear, Jordan's reflexes failed her entirely as the club swung down and slammed into the side of her rib cage, throwing her five feet away to crash against the ground. She groaned lightly in pain.

"Leave!" the monster demanded.

"I-I can't," Jordan tried to argue, stumbling to her feet and attempting to bring air back into her winded lungs. "If I do, how am I supposed to learn anything?"

Once again she was unable to move. The man grabbed her arm and tossed her, almost casually, another ten feet away.

"You do not belong on my island!" he shouted. "You will leave!"

"N-no I won't!" Jordan struggled again to stand. The next blow she was able to dodge, but only barely. She could hear the whistle of the club as it passed a hair's breadth from her head. Doing her best in the sandy environment, she stumbled up and broke into a run. Anywhere, just anywhere to escape the beating.

Her slight asthma be damned, she would run until she collapsed!

It wasn't long before the tribal man caught up with her. She'd only been running for maybe half a minute when an explosion of pain erupted along her back. From there she promptly fell to the ground, struggling to stand once more but wracked with paralyzing pain traveling through her spine. She was thoroughly helpless, however. There would be no escape.

A minute or so later, Jordan wasn't sure whether to be grateful or not that the beast had soon lost interest. Willing her muscles to work through the pain, she army-crawled toward a tree, which she used to support herself as she pulled herself to her feet. Gingerly moving each part of her body, she found that luckily no bones had broken. She was just cut and bruised, which was a blessing within itself.

Tired and beaten, she fumbled back toward her camp, where she was barely able to keep herself from falling, literally, onto the arrangement of gigantic plant leaves she'd placed as a make-shift bed. It took all her willpower not to just collapse there, logic telling her that if she did she'd just bring herself even more pain.

Before she passed out entirely, aching and exhausted, she stole one last glance toward the tree, bearing markings of trials of more than one person. From here she could just barely make out the single line she'd scratched into the tree's trunk.

Day number one.

* * *

_Aw man . . . this makes me feel in pain just writing it. :( Review please._


	23. Reflecting

_ Okay, I did change my pen name again. This should be the last time, however. I've realized that having names based on your characters in stories doesn't work so well. #sweatdrops# Speaking of names, when referring to me, just call me Syl or Syldoran, and when referring to me in the story, just say Jordan. Pretend we aren't anywhere related to each other.  
_

Wandering Hitokiri: Hmph. She is me but I'm not beaten to a pulp, so it's poor her, but since she's me, then that means poor me . . . Damn it! Just quit confusing me! #goes to hide in a corner#

Ed: She is not okay, is she?

Shut up! #huddle#

Rikdo Osaka: Yay, 'nother good chapter was born. Keep reading, you'll see how she does.

AJ: Well, thank you. :)

Caspercat22: Ow, yeah, Mason does tend to go kinda overboard eh? Well, Jordan will last (however painfully she does), so enjoy that and keep reading to see just how she does! Whoo!

Coolkat and Roookie: Yeah, I think that's how you spell deja vu. :) Anyway, Ed and Al, I will admit, shall be making their appearance again within a few more chapters. I've got some good stuffs planned, oh yes I do. :3

Cha-chan-hyper: Um, yes, I updated. And now I'm updating again. #grin# Summer heat does suck; I've been dying (stupid Washington is a freakin' desert, technically) over here too. To Alaska!

Celedeen Tachibana: Let's just go with poor Jordan. I'm having a breakdown. Pretend she isn't at all related to me! Glad you liked the chapter.

Shiori Kurokase: I'm sorry I'm in pain too . . . er, in a sense. I should hope you'd be scared in Jordan's position; there's something wrong with you if you wouldn't be! #wink# Just kidding.

Kamisori Kaze no Renkinjutsu: Crappus . . . huh. Very nice. And Izumi is dead in the movie? . . . . Oh, yeah. I remember now. #tear#

**Lawyer: Come on now. You have to sign this document to say you don't own 'FMA.'**

**Syldoran: But it's legally binding! **

**Lawyer: Exactly.**

**Syldoran: But then everybody will miss these funny little disclaimer side stories that-**

**Ed and Al: No we won't!**

**Syldoran: Right . . . well, that's only because I torture you guys in meaningless ways.**

**Ed: Tying us to chairs-**

**Al: Subjecting us to unending strange situations-**

**Ed: The dress of the chapter previous to this one-**

**Syldoran: Live with it!**

* * *

Six days. 

That's precisely what the tree told her. Six dagger-etched tally marks in the rough bark of the palm tree, one representing a day on this god-forsaken island. Six days since Izumi had left her on her own to survive in the wilderness. Six days of living in a fear so constant it felt about as normal as breathing. Of hunger, of pain, of late-evening battles with that strange tribal warrior, who never failed a day.

_Thunk!_

"Damn it." Jordan dug her knife out of the bush it had just bounced into, ricocheting off the tree after a poorly-formed throw. She went back to the line she'd made in the soft sand, stood behind it, and angled herself to face the tree again. Holding the hilt in a calloused hand, she closed one eye for accuracy, pulled her arm back, and sent the knife spinning again, end over end, back toward the tree trunk.

It rang out a dull note when it struck the tree and fell back into the same bush she'd retrieved it from a dozen times already.

"Man, I'm going to get this eventually," Jordan said as she picked up the knife once more and sheathed it at her side. Target-throwing had become a way for her to pass time on the island when she wasn't busy finding food or setting traps. "Not that it helps I snapped my glasses in half." Indeed, she'd fallen out of a tree in reaching for a fruit earlier that day, and her glasses had broken upon contact with the earth. She could always fix them, but that would require alchemy.

"Well, I guess I can further scare the guys at school by saying I know how to throw knives with accuracy, if I ever do get this," she said wryly, fingering the sheath.

Her stomach grumbled again, reminding her how she should be out looking for more food. She did have a small cache hidden away, but it wouldn't last her another three weeks.

A rabbit flashed by in some underbrush, reminding Jordan how if she'd stopped being so squeamish she'd have some actual meat, rather than the sparse tropical fruits and vegetation she managed to find. She sighed, then winced as a sharp pang of hunger shot through her stomach. This time, if one of her traps had caught something, she couldn't afford to just let it go.

Jordan looked around the clearing, then remembering where she'd set up a trap, started into the forest. A few minutes of walking took her to one of her set-ups. It was simple, but effective. A pit was dug perhaps a foot into the ground, and covered by a thin mesh of vines knotted into a net perhaps twice as wide as the hole (by the time Jordan had finished with all four traps, her fingers had been rubbed raw from the rough vines and dirt). If something happened over it, the animal would fall into the pit and be tangled into the net. There was always the risk the vines would snap, as Jordan had cut them thinner in order to tie them, but beyond that Jordan believed it would work.

The first of her traps turned up empty, to both her dismay and delight. Over the course of half an hour she proceeded to check the other traps. The next two proved useless; they were empty as well. However, as she approached the last one, she could see it had snared something, as the netting had been pulled down into the pit. It was hard to be sure, though, as something else was moving around the trap as well.

"Hey, what is it doing?" Jordan wondered aloud as she approached. A fox was slowly lifting something from the hole. As she got closer, she could see the fox had pulled up the netting, with a rabbit entangled in it.

Going slowly as to not scare away the fox, Jordan grimaced as the low branch of a tree snapped back when she pushed past. The fox look up sharply, startled, then grabbed the caught rabbit by the neck and bolted away, the vine netting dragging behind. Cursing, Jordan sprinted after it.

After a minute or so of hard running, when her lungs burned for lack of oxygen and her legs were about to fail her (and she was hardly able to believe she'd run that fast for so long), the fox she'd been pursuing ducked into a a den dug underneath the high roots of a large tree. Jordan paused to kneel down behind a nearby bush, now just interested in watching.

From where she was, Jordan could hear small whimpers coming from the fox's den. There were kits.

Now Jordan understood. The fox had happened upon the rabbit before she did, and taken it to feed her hungry kits.

For a few minutes, Jordan simply sat. She was a bit peeved from losing the rabbit, but it couldn't be helped. Besides, maybe the foxes needed it more than her. She had more revenues to live off of.

"Maybe I'll just go fishing instead," she said to herself after awhile.

--------------------

"And maybe this wasn't such a good idea," she reflected later.

Planted cross-legged on a rocky overhang about ten feet above the water, she held a stick about half that length, but supple and flexible. Vines had been put to use once more, as a thin trimming of one was tied to the end of the long stick, the other dangling in the water with a makeshift fish hook knotted to it. The hook was cleverly made from part of the wire frame of her glasses.

And it had been an uneventful hour since she'd put it together.

"I'm getting bored," Jordan yawned to her foggy reflection in the water. "And it's too hot out."

She ground the her fishing pole into the soil, then got up and jogged back toward her camp. In ten minutes she was back at her perch again, an orange from her cache in hand. She wasn't particularly fond of the fruit (in fact, the only thing she liked about oranges was their smell), but she couldn't afford to be picky out here.

Sitting down next to her pole again, she whipped out her knife to make a beginning cut to the orange's peel.

This was where she made her mistake.

The tip of the dagger sliced a neat slit in the peel for her to pull at, but her hand slipped. The knife cut straight through the orange peel, and the momentum carried it through to cut her left forearm.

Letting out a little gasp in pain, Jordan dropped the knife to the ground and clasped her hand over the wound, trying to think quickly. There wasn't anything around her that she could use. She dared to lift her hand to see how badly she'd injured herself.

Luckily, the cut was only about a fourth of an inch deep; enough to bleed considerably, but not so bad that it wouldn't scab over within a day or two.

"Um, okay, okay, I need something to wrap my arm, or this is going seriously suck for awhile," Jordan muttered, still looking around. Glancing down, she saw nothing but her own legs as she knelt on the ground. Almost thoughtfully, she unbent one knee to stick her leg straight out, examining her camouflage-patterned jeans.

"Okay, now I've got an idea," she said, smirking despite the stinging and bleeding of her injury. She picked up the knife again, gripped the thick denim of her jeans to pull it away from her leg, and began cutting it away, with careful precision, at knee length. Jordan did this first to the right leg of her pants, then to the left, and when she was finished she had two large strips of sturdy cloth and a baggy pair of shorts rather than jeans.

"I am such an idiot," Jordan growled to herself as she cut the strips of denim into thinner pieces and wrapping them around her forearm. "I can't fish, can't catch my food, can't even peel a damned orange without hurting myself!

"Not like I could ever do anything anyway," she continued, frustration building over what seemed like anything imaginable. Everything she was angry at herself for just came pouring out now. "Barely passed that stupid alchemy exam. Bet I passed that whole exam just on pure luck! It's not as if I've done anything spectacular with alchemy since!"

She tugged on her bandage to tighten it; yanking too hard, the cloth bit into her skin, causing her more grief than she had to deal with already. With a growl, she unwrapped the bandage and redid it again.

"Freakin' useless, that's all I feel like now," she went on. "I'm going to fail this for sure. Izumi's never going to take me in as her apprentice!"

Jordan pounded her hand on the ground. "I just need to go home. Even if nobody appreciates me there, it's better than here," she said quietly. "I'm nothing but a hindrance and a pain in Amestris."

A small yellow flower brushed against her hand; Jordan snapped its stem between her thumbnail and her index finger, then held the flower to eye level. "And Ed and Al? Bet they could hardly stand me. Never liked me; I was just some girl Mustang had dumped on them!"

She stood up and kicked hard at the ground. By accident, she knocked her knife from the overhang and into the water ten feet below. When she realized this mistake, among the several others she'd already made today, Jordan pulled at her bangs in frustration.

"As if I couldn't be more stupid!" she yelled. Throwing the flower over her shoulder, she jumped from the short cliff's edge and dived into the water, cutting through the surface with only a small splash.

The water was dark, but luckily her knife hadn't fallen so far yet as to be difficult to find. When she jumped in, it was only about five feet down. Jordan swept it up in one hand, and fighting to hold her breath, kicked to the surface.

"Man, I'm an idiot," she said again as she sheathed the knife and stumbled onto shore, then back onto her fishing overhang. She was soaking wet now, but as hot as it was, hopefully it wouldn't take too long for her to dry.

Jordan plopped down next to her fishing rod, still grounded into the soil. She laid down on the grass, hanging close to the edge so she could stare at her reflection in the water. Something cold rested on her arm; her watch had fallen from her pocket.

"What was I saying?" she wondered. "I'm not as terrible as I'm saying, am I?"

Her reflection stared back at her. Jordan saw someone who didn't seem to look like her at all. The girl in the water, bruised on the cheek and scratched all elsewhere, was looking just plain pitiful. Her hair, her secret pride, was hanging straggly and loose. The girl looked older, more mature and sensible.

With one of the most beaten expressions Jordan had ever seen.

"What the hell am I saying about myself?" Jordan wanted to know. She clenched her watch in her hand. "I kicked Mustang's ass in the alchemy exam! Or, well, I proved his equal."

What had she said about Ed and Al? That they didn't like being around her? That was a lie, Jordan knew. They were her best friends in this crazy place, and had proven time and time again.

Jordan slipped into a hazy mood, thinking of what accomplishments she had done. Each one boosted her confidence just a little bit more.

What of beating Envy and the homonculi in Lexalin? Sure, she'd gotten a beating from that, but Ed and her had given them a run for their money.

And then there was how far she was now. If Izumi hadn't thought she could do it, would she even have this chance?

Jordan grinned wryly. Ed and Al's training had helped her a lot, no doubt.

After awhile, her thoughts simply slid back into her time spent with them. All the help they'd been, the kindness they'd shown. Especially Ed. Despite his temper, he'd probably been the most helpful in her training to be a state alchemist. Any questions she'd had, he'd answer right away. Anything she needed help with, he'd drop what he was doing and help, however begrudgingly.

Suddenly, it didn't seem like he was 'just a friend' anymore.

"Okay, what kind of thoughts am I thinking?" Jordan sat up suddenly. "There's no way I think of him like that."

Something in the back of her mind told her she was lying to herself.

Any thoughts of this dissipated quickly. The tip of her rod was bending forward, toward the water. Jordan snatched it up and yanked on the rod, pulling her catch up and out of the water. Without a proper reel, it was a little more difficult, but after a minute or so she had a small fish, about six inches long, wiggling on her hook.

"Aha, I have food!" Jordan smirked. Patience paid off.

--------------------

The fire crackled merrily as the fish cooked over the open flames, speared on a small stick stuck into the ground. Jordan sat, cross-legged, near to the fire, staring into the flames, ever alert. Every night, right around the evening, was when the tribal man would come.

"Damn you Mason, for playing such a convincing part," she murmured to the fire. She remembered who was behind the mask; the man who worked for the Curtises. She didn't want to say anything, though. It would ruin the point of the whole masquerade if she let on she knew it was him.

However, it seemed she'd be able to have her meager dinner in peace. As she bit into the meat of her fish, half-expecting to be attacked right then and there, Jordan continually drummed her fingers against the hilt of her knife.

Even after she finished, nothing happened. Still wary, she got up and walked into the forest, headed toward a small spring of fresh water she'd discovered, untwisting her hair from its loose braid until it hung loose, then pulling out the ponytail, letting it bounce around her waist until she could sit and braid it again.

As she splashed her face with the cooling liquid, that's when she heard his approach. Branches snapped behind her, and she whipped around, the knife out of its sheath before she'd even finished the turn.

As always, Jordan's heart skipped a beat when the masked giant loomed over her, the deadly club in hand. Quickly she jumped out of the way as it swooped down upon her. He missed, but only barely.

"Why are you still here!" he demanded, running toward her for another blow.

"I've told you before, I'm not leaving!" Jordan shouted, ducking under and rolling to the side. "I can't possibly finish my training if I leave!"

The third strike she wasn't fast enough to jump away from. The man struck her in the side, throwing her into the dirt a couple feet away. She scrambled up and out of the way just in time to dodge a hit that would have surely taken the air from her lungs.

"You do not belong on my island!" the being bellowed, reaching to grab for her.

"I don't care! You don't run my life!" Jordan retaliated, hopping back out of his reach. "Only I do that."

The man growled and ran toward her. Jordan held her ground, and when he was close enough she knelt down and swooped from his grasp. She swept her arm toward him, hoping to cripple his movement with a slice to the leg.

She never got there.

The tip of her sneaker caught in the ground, forcing her off-balance as she tried to move. She yelped as she tumbled onto the dirt, helpless for only a second.

But a second was long enough.

The man reached out and grabbed her by her hair, his strong hand locking onto the ragged long locks. Jordan gasped as he tugged back hard, forcing her up onto her knees.

"You wish to die on this island, don't you?" he rasped menacingly.

"I don't plan to," she spat.

She was kicked in the chest and sent spinning another three feet, where she was immediately grasped by her long hair again. This time he pulled harder, forcing an weak sob from the girl. She was bowed, on her hands and knees, the knife in her right hand utterly useless.

"I've warned you before," he growled. "You refuse to heed my warnings!"

"That's because I plan to finish this test, fair and square," Jordan said quietly. Blood leaked from her lip, which she quickly spat so as to form her words. "You're just all part of it, that's all."

He kicked her again, hitting her square in the ribs, but not letting her go this time. She was still fully in his grasp, subject to whatever torment he had. There was no way for her to get free, not while she was held like this.

"If you beg now, I might be able to let you go," the giant hissed behind his mask. Jordan shook her head.

"No dice. I'm here to stay." The knife glinted in her hand, giving Jordan the one way out she could think of.

"No matter what you do," she said slowly, raising the knife behind her head, "I'm still going to be here until Izumi comes for me and names me her apprentice."

The cold steel pressed against the back of her neck. Jordan lowered the blade ever so slightly, until she could feel it pushing against the man's fingers. This wasn't about injuring him, though. She moved it up again.

"I'll do whatever it takes to finish this," she said lowly, just loud enough to be heard, "Because I've been through a lot. I've learned that giving up isn't an option."

With a sudden jerking movement, Jordan pulled the knife straight up. The sharp edge met little resistance as it sliced through each strand of her hair.

Suddenly not being held back any longer, Jordan pitched forward to hit the ground, but quickly bounced up and leaped to her feet to face the demon again. In surprise, he was holding still, letting the realization wash over him that he no longer held the girl, but only a fistful of her hair.

"I'm going to miss that," Jordan said, jumping forward with the knife raised. She sliced a gash into his upper arm, making him yell out in pain and open his hand. The silky brown locks slid from his fingers to almost flutter to the ground. Growling in defiance, the dog-masked man dashed off into the trees again, leaving behind no more than a few drops of blood from his wound.

Breathing heavily, Jordan put the knife back at her belt loop, then stumbled to look at her reflection in the freshwater spring.

She hardly could even recognize herself now. Her hair, once so long it easily reached her waist, the envy of all her friends, and the only thing that most people noticed her for, was now shorter than she could believe. The tips of her hair now danced just about her shoulders, curling messily under in the front and outward in the back.

_I look ridiculous,_ she thought, pulling her hair band off her wrist and reaching back to tie what was left of her hair into its customary low ponytail. _But I guess that's the price of survival. _Her short ponytail, only maybe an inch and a half long now, brushed against the back of her neck uncomfortably; it was going to take some time to get used to.

Glancing at her reflection one last time, Jordan did indeed see herself. But this time, she looked as if she could continue on.

* * *

_The sadness. Or something._

_Well, in real life, I did cut my hair a little less than a month ago, during Spring Break. Some of my friends, literally, did not recognize me at all. Everybody still hates me for cutting it. But it was for a good cause; I donated to Locks of Love, the charity that makes wigs from hair donations for kids with cancer. _

_People still can't believe I cut my hair, though._

_But, whatever. Please review!_


	24. Time Changes Things

_Still getting there on the drawing. . . but my mom ruined the first one of it, so I had to start over. #sighs#_

_And by the way, since I have had a lot of people ask me this, yes, Ed and Al will come back soon. Just be patient. Few more chapters and they'll come around.  
_

Celedeen Tachibana: Cool, I know somebody else who donated their hair to the program. #grin# It's a good thing. I know you want another chapter. The upside to my deleting my Zelda one is I have more time to work on this story, so updates should hopefully speed up a tad.

Caspercat22: Eh he he . . . .Yeah, Jordan's starting to figure out a few things, huh? Ed's going to be very shocked when he finds out she's learning from Izumi, and that she cut her hair. #evil laugh#

Al: Oh my . . . .

Ed: . . .I'm not responding to this.

Quit hovering, you two!

Kamisori Kaze no Renkinjutsu: Hm . . . I know a few other people who can't stand to have their hair long anymore. I just want mine back. T-T Anyway, don't worry; I've already lost my mind, so your homicidal second half won't have much of an effect on me. I've lost my soul, too, but that's a different story.

Liah Cauthon: Shh! I know, Jordan pulled a "Sakura" right there. Don't tell, but that's where I kinda got the idea. One of my friends got me addicted to Naruto, and so I watched that episode online at some point, and then I thought of this (since I'd cut my hair), and . . . yeah.

A Falling Angel: I'm glad you liked the only good deed in my life that I've ever done, in donating my hair. #smirks# Yay for Jordan finding her inner strength to face the rest of the test! And stuff! XD

Ed: What the . . . .

Dancing Nightmare: Yes, Jordan did indeed pull a Sakura! I'm very aware. I did get the idea from there, since I wanted to incorporate how I cut my hair into the story and whatnot. Ew . . . feel bad for your sickness there. Sounds nasty. And, I'm glad you liked Jordan's verbal will to Blade. Just kinda off the top of my head. Isn't it nice when people just ask for your things when you die, rather than give you sympathy?

Kisa44: Aw, that's okay if you couldn't review earlier. As long as I know you're still here.

Cha-chan-hyper: Yeah, I couldn't live if my hair was that short. I can barely live with it as it is now. Stupid mis-measurements . . . . #sigh#

Coolkat and Roookie: Ow . . . aw man, that sounds really bad for you. And I thought I had it bad half-spraining my wrist last fastpitch season. (Well, it wasn't a sprain, but when I made a slide into home I hit my wrist and I couldn't move it without excruciating pain for about three weeks.) Sucks all your computers are upstairs, but you still have the laptop, so it's not all bad.

Purple Ghost Sausage: Yay for parallelism and the foxes and the tallies and Jordan's verbal will to Blade and . . . yeah. (Sorry, first thing in the morning right now. Not too terribly responsive.) I have to agree that long-haired people are usually kinda attached to their hair. I still miss mine. #tear#

Silent-Nitemare: Aw, thank you. :) Glad to know I have some talent in something. I have entered a few story-telling contests elsewhere, but without using the copyrighted material. Heh heh . . . . And I actually don't mind writing the disclaimers. I make them fun by using the little mini-stories at the beginning of the chapters.

Shiori Kurokase: You actually kinda expected Jordan to expose Mason? Hm. Interesting. Well, she didn't. :) Ouch. . . . musta really sucked to have had your hair had to be cut _that_ short. . . .I wouldn't be able to live with it like that, for sure. XP

Mew Sarin Alchemist: Yes, it was very Sakura-like. That's actually where I kinda got the idea. (Don't tell!) If you're still speechless, though, then hurrah!

I Love CHEESECAKE: Nice name, I do too. :) I'm glad you like my character and story so much; I hate Mary Sues so much, so putting myself in to the story was a refreshing new little thing. Hooray for constant inner battles that are working so far, and thanks for the review!

Kagami no Renkinjustsushi: Nice name. Again. :) Mason obviously does tend ot go a bit overboard, but oh well. Jordan didn't reveal him, that's a good thing, etc., etc.

**Syldoran: Disclaimers, disclaimers . . . . Why?**

**Lawyer: So that readers know you don't own "Fullmetal Alchemist."**

**Syldoran: But everybody already knows this!  
**

**Ed: Some of us like the reassurance . . . .**

**Syldoran: _Hate_ you all . . . .**

* * *

_Thunk!_

"Ha, I knew I'd get it by the time I got off this hellish place!" Jordan cried triumphantly. Her knife quivered back and forth, its tip embedded within the tree bark at least an inch. She'd figured out how to throw it both end over end and straight, though the latter was considerably more difficult because of the weight. Either way, she was still rather proud of her accomplishment.

More importantly, the dagger had just left a tally in the wood marking the final day of Jordan's stay on the island. Izumi would be back anytime soon to fetch her.

"'All for one and one for all', huh?" Jordan asked rhetorically as she yanked on the knife and put it away. "How should I answer?"

She spent the following fifteen minutes debating this as she fought her way out of the forest and onto the open beach. At the water's edge, she sat down in the sun-warmed sand, sifting it in her hands as she awaited the small boat that would take her from the island.

"I suppose I know what it means," she mused, "but I don't really know how to explain it."

As the grains of sand poured from her hand, she stared at the little waterfall of ground rock. Each grain of sand was different, individual, and yet somehow, just depending on how one moved, the rest would come falling down, she observed.

Everybody's decision, and how they acted, would affect the others around them. Such as how numerous times the small animals in her traps would be picked up before she got to them. (This happened about five times.) Even if she didn't get it, some fox or other animal would. Her late reaction affected whether something else got to eat. She was nothing but a foreigner to the native life, but she was still an influence nonetheless.

_And what about in Lexalin? That has something to do with it too,_ she thought. _If I had gone _with _Ed and Al to begin with, or if I hadn't happened to be listening to the radio at that time, things could have gone a lot differently._

"I'm just a small part of this world," she whispered, scooping up another handful of sand and letting it sift through her fingers, "but a small action can be significant later."

Somehow this felt like a reassurance, that even though she'd done nothing spectacular, what she had done could still affect others.

She picked up a small twig lying next to her and began drawing in the sand, just sketching out a chest-up shot of an anime-style girl. It soon became a half-hour project as she waited, sometimes alternating this activity with rearranging the camouflage bandanna she'd made to push back her hair over her ponytail (and just because she wanted to do something with the extra cloth she'd had from cutting her jeans).

And waited for awhile. Can't forget that.

Fortunately, it was _before_ she believed she was going to go stir-crazy and only _shortly_ after she had gone to the lengths of lying on her back and playing with curls of her shorter hair that she heard a sloshing of water on wood, announcing the coming of Izumi. Jordan tied up her hair again and sat up, then quickly rubbed out the drawing in the sand.

As the boat beached on the shore, Jordan dropped to her knees in a respectful bow as Izumi, still imposing as ever, approached her. Jordan fought the urge to stand again; she found it difficult to swallow this much of her pride.

"So, it seems you've managed to survive for this month," Izumi stated. Jordan didn't reply. "But your time's up now. So tell me, what does 'all for one and one for all' mean?"

Jordan lifted her head to look up at the older woman. "'All for one and one for all' refers to the entire cycle of life," she said matter-of-factly."All of us are just small parts of the world, insignificant, even. But what we do and what happens to us will eventually have an impact on the surroundings, however small.

"Even if I had died here," Jordan continued, "it would have eventually gone back to the earth one way or another. Everything continually takes and gives. All for one and one for all, isn't it?"

Izumi stared in moderate surprise at the determined girl. She'd just answered her question without so much as a second's hesitation. Trying to hide a small smile, in which she was unsuccessful, Izumi said, "Well, let's go then."

"I passed?" Jordan asked carefully, trying to cover the hope in her tone.

"You passed," Izumi confirmed. "So come on. We should get you settled, if you plan to be with us for the next six months."

Jordan grinned and stumbled to her feet toward the boat, where once again Izumi's husband sat at the back. As she approached, something black and furry leaped out and jumped into her arms.

"Blade!" Jordan exclaimed joyously, rubbing a hand roughly against the feline's head. "Aw man, you weren't supposed to get this big while I was gone!" Indeed, Blade had grown considerably in just a month, and was now just a tad too big to sit on her shoulder (although he tried with all his might and eventually had to settle for curling in Jordan's arms).

Turning to Izumi, Jordan asked, "You actually brought him all the way out here?"

"He refused to be left behind," Izumi answered bitterly. "Come on, we need to get back."

Jordan climbed carefully into the boat, arranging Blade in her lap so she could still move her arms freely. As before, she carefully tucked away the chain to her pocket watch and hid it under one of Blade's paws.

Izumi sat down in the boat with that strange natural grace of hers, and Sig Curtis pushed off from the island and into the calm waters. Absently stroking Blade's head and listening to him purr steadily, Jordan stared out at the island she'd been trapped on for the last month.

Maybe she'd already learned a lot, and only now was realizing it.

"I thought you wore glasses?" Izumi asked after a moment of silently studying the younger girl.

"Believe it or not, I fell out of a tree," Jordan said with a small chuckle. "I couldn't fix them without alchemy, so I've been carrying the pieces in my pocket for about three weeks." She produced the lenses and bent frames from her pocket and held them on the flat of her palm to examine them.

Izumi gently took the pieces from her hand, and before Jordan could ask what she was doing, a low blue light announced the doing of a transmutation, and Izumi handed Jordan a pair of perfectly mended, copper-framed glasses.

"Thank you, Teacher," Jordan said, taking back her glasses. Sliding them onto her nose, she blinked multiple times in rapid succession as everything suddenly gained a distinct outline. "Whoa..."

When they finally arrived back at Izumi's home within about another hour, the first thing Jordan did after being shown to her room was whip out her journal, grabbed a pen (she still hadn't gotten any new ink since she'd run out), and start writing a new entry. Blade kept vying for her attention as she wrote, so there were several black ink marks dotting the page where the quill tapped the paper as she pushed Blade out of her way.

_Oh man, I wouldn't believe this last month was even possible if I hadn't experienced it myself,_ she started, once Blade was settled. _And it's going to take me awhile to get used to calling Izumi "Teacher..."_

--------------------

"Ahh!" Jordan cried out as she flew through the air and tumbled to a halt on the grassy ground.

"Well, are you going to get up or not?" Izumi demanded, standing in a casual manner in the middle of the yard.

"As long as that's not a rock embedded in my spine, sure," Jordan muttered, wincing as she stood again.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Teacher!" Through a month of tutelage, Jordan knew much better than to contradict anything that Izumi said.

Rubbing her shoulder where she'd taken the most of the collision with the ground, Jordan let out a small gasp in pain. "It's amazing how much of this I can stand," she said, more to herself than to anyone else.

Izumi gave her a cold look from over the top of a cookbook she held in her hand. "I've told you before, to train the mind-"

"-One must first train the body," Jordan finished. "Yes, Teacher." She regained her stance, then ran toward Izumi.

Sparring was definitely not her strong point.

Jordan attempted several hits to Izumi, all of which Izumi dodged with ease, never lifting her eyes from the cookbook she held. Trying to think quickly, Jordan attempted a sweeping kick down along the ground, trying to throw Izumi off-balance. Izumi simply stepped out of the way of this also.

It was almost an intricate dance, so to speak, as Jordan continued trying to best her teacher. Anything Jordan tried, Izumi would quickly foil, in a never-ending circle Jordan was sure was meant to thoroughly bruise what she had of her ego.

Jordan struck out again, only to be stopped mid-way. Izumi grabbed her arm, then casually tossed her cookbook up into the air, landed three numbing hits on various places of Jordan's body, then threw the teenager another several feet across the lawn before catching her book and going back to what she was reading.

_When Dad said martial arts training would be hard, I don't think he ever thought I'd put up with this,_ Jordan thought sourly as she stood up once again. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face that she brushed away irritably.

She gritted her teeth and started toward Izumi again, breathing hard and feeling as though she'd collapse but refusing to be weak. She stopped however, when Izumi began coughing hard. Her teacher pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and turned away, covering her mouth with the square of cloth. Jordan hit the brakes as hard as she could and barely avoided a crash collision.

"We're done for the day," Izumi stated when her coughing fit was finished. Jordan caught a glimpse of the now crimson-stained handkerchief as she put it into her pocket again. Izumi had been coughing blood again.

"Y-yes, Teacher," Jordan stuttered. Now that she wasn't moving, the demand for oxygen in her lungs was much more apparent. She clasped her hands above her head, lifting her arms, and attempted to slow her breathing. It was times like this that her mother's asthma history really came to her mind.

Without meaning to, Jordan let her eyes stray back to Izumi, and towards her stomach, remembering how Izumi had attempted forbidden alchemy to bring back her son years ago, and had lost her internal organs in the process, the reason why Izumi was always so ill. It didn't seem so bad to lose a limb in comparison to that. At least an arm or a leg could be replaced with auto-mail, however painful it might be at first.

It always gave Jordan a sick feeling when she thought about it.

Glancing out at the setting sun, Jordan headed into the house and back to her private room, where her quill and a new bottle of ink awaited her usage. Pulling out her journal and flipping open to the clean page marked by the silk ribbon, she reached for her quill, then stopped. She thought about what day it was, then with a sad thought, began going back in her journal, passing through several old entries until she stopped at about two weeks' worth of pages.

_Wow,_ she thought. For the last two weeks, she hadn't written a thing about home. She flipped back to her blank page, dipped her quill in ink, and began writing.

_Strange, how time takes a toll,_ she began.

_I mean, look at me. I've been here since about, what, December 31st? About the end of December. It's almost summer now; I've been here in Amestris for about six months! Weird things seem to happen when you let that much time slip by._

_When I first fell through the Gate, the first thing on my mind was, "How the hell did I get here and how do I get home?" Then it was, "How am I going to learn enough to pass my alchemy exam?" After that, "What is it Mustang's going to have me do?"_

_Then, a tad more recently, it's been, "How do I get back home? Where should I look next?" I spent a couple months on that, running from city to city, library to library, just trying to figure out a way to switch dimensions again and get home. Looking back, I see I have some entire pages of notes and circles and theories, all about the Gate and going through it to go back to plain old Yakima, Washington. _

_But recently, since I became Izumi's apprentice a month ago (and since then one of my questions has been, "How do I keep Izumi from noticing I'm a state alchemist?"), I've seen that I haven't written much about the Gate. Almost all of it's become just like a daily journal I would keep back home, describing what I did that day, what kind of drawings I was doing at the time, what stories I needed to write (months since I've done that), the people I couldn't stand. That's what it is now. For two weeks I haven't written a thing about the Gate or home, and I realized that even before then, how much I wrote about the topic was starting to thin out. Most of what I do know is just progressing with life. Keeping up with my studies (just like school), wondering if Mustang is ever going to need me for more military services (a little like ROTC was), trying to make sure Izumi doesn't find my watch. (Pain in the rear, I tell ya, especially when you think Mustang might randomly pop out of a bush with commands for you.)  
_

_I think I'm getting used to the idea of staying in Amestris._

_Now, don't get me wrong. I'd still love to go home. I still miss my friends and family. but since then, a lot has changed. I've met new people, and gotten used to a life of traveling. Even Mustang being a smart-ass; I'm used to that too. (Not that I've heard from him since the Lexalin incident.) Then there's Blade; I've gotten so used to having him around it's kind of hard to imagine what life was like before he came around to be a pain._

_I realize now, I've missed a lot since I left. Like Valentine's Day. I never liked that holiday; too pink. In fact, the only real thing I liked about it was the usual overload of those little sugar hearts that nobody but me liked. But, it was still a "hang out with friends" kind of thing, complete with cheesy little valentine cards. _

_Or how about my sister's and my dad's birthdays? Missed those. And St. Patrick's Day (which I always won, since my favorite color's green). And Easter, and April Fool's Day. #sigh# I've missed a lot. But strangely, I don't miss it so much. I mean, I still wish I could celebrate these holidays (because I have no idea if some of these even exist in Amestris), but it's not a huge deal anymore._

_See? A whole lot has changed in these six months. It's not even about going home anymore, all this stuff I do. It's just about proving that I can actually succeed, proving that I can keep going in life even though it's not a normal world for a thirteen-year-old girl. It's just about moving on. Right down to the fact I cut my hair. That was for survival._

_I can't even remember the last time I thought about going home, beyond right now. _

_Oh, and I guess there's one last thing I'm missing._

_Happy birthday, Jordan. You're fourteen years old today and nobody knows it but you._

_-June 12, 1914_

_(Does it really count when my birthday's years before I'm supposed to be born?)_

With a chuckle that turned into a wistful sigh, Jordan set down her quill and performed the regular ritual of sprinkling sand over the wet ink, then set the small black book on the windowsill to let it dry out of her way. Blade hopped up onto the bed next to her, purring, and Jordan scratched behind his ears.

"Happy birthday to me," she whispered. "You've succeeded beyond what most people could and nobody has a clue, Jordan. Congrats."

* * *

_Lovely. Absolutely lovely. Or something. XD Don't forget to review, my friends!_


	25. How it Goes

_Whoo! I finally got that drawing up! Take a peek at the link in my profile. Make sure to go to the right one; DeviantArt houses my fan fiction-related drawings, while SheezyArt has everything else. There'll be more soon, I'm working on it. _XD _Oh, and by the way, Jordan's alchemist name has been changed; it's just Lightning Alchemist now. I decided to edit that into my chapters; the revised editions will be up soon._

Coolkat and Roookie: That knee of yours had better get... er, better soon. A brace isn't the end of the world. :) Scary thing is, I could almost see Mustang popping out of a bush too. There's a new drawing idea.

Ed: As if it weren't bad enough when he stayed in his office. . . .

Silent-Nitemare: Oh, well, nice new name. :) I know my last chapter was a little short... but I couldn't help it. I'll try to make up for it. The Elrics will come back eventually. Few more chapters, as I already said.

A Falling Angel: I think I'm giving Jordan too much strength in comparison to myself. It would suck to miss all those holidays... and I'll give you a little tidbit. She's not gonna miss Christmas. At least, not miss celebrating it. Can't tell ya more than that. #wink wink# I can't wait to have Ed and Al come back either... the suspense kills me!

Kagame no Renkinjustsushi: Thanks for the luck. Hopefully your luck will help influence this chapter's turnout. :) I know everyone wants Ed and Al back. I ought to make a chapter with them in it. Not randomly coming by and staying, but just about them. Maybe.

AJ: Well, I'm glad you still like the story.

Ed: What in the world is that girl even saying?

Me: #shrug# Play along.

Caspercat22: Yay, well done for Jordan! Huzzah, and all that. Hopefully she won't be dead by the time Izumi's finished with her. :3

Mew Sarin Alchemist: Huh. I could barely read that long and strung-together sentence. But I got it. I know it was kind of sad; that was the idea of it, no? #wink# That's strange...you're right, Kakashi and Izumi both _do_ fight while reading books. But there's a difference; Izumi's is about cooking while Kakashi's is about...well...um...stuff. Stuff I don't really want to talk about.

Al: Uh. . . .

Ed: ...I don't want to know.

Me: No. You don't.

Celedeen Tachibana: I've thought about having Ed and Al visiting and making everything weird... but I've got a bunch of other ideas too. Wait...aha, I may have a new one. Go me! And Jordan! And everything else! I actually thought about Hughes and Ed's birthday the same time I was writing Jordan's/mine. Weird.

Kisa44: Whee! Thank you!

Liah Cauthon: Ugh... if your hair's shorter than mine, then I'd probably commit suicide if I had yours. Short hair just sucks for me. Hair is too curly, so it looks really... feminine, when it's short. #hisses# Kinda cool that yours looked like Hinata's, though. I'm probably growing mine out a certain length, then keeping it so I look like Edward when I braid it. Heh heh... anime obsessions are good. However, I'm not dying my hair blonde. That's just too far.

Cha-chan-hyper: Whoa. Independence birthdays. O.O Strange. Anyway, glad you liked it, but about your novel? I think you'll need to tell me about that before I can be of use.

Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1: You know how much I like you right now? You just super-boosted my review scores with all those reviews you posted. Thank you so very much. :P I'm glad you liked the journal entry; I like putting those in just so everybody can see everything from Jordan's point of view once in a while.

Kamisori Kaze no Renkinjustsu: Yes, her birthday's in June. Why? 'Cause my birthday's in June. However, unlike Jordan, I'm still trying to hit that fourteen year mark. T-T #sigh# Younger than everyone. That's kind of evil of your dad to say. -.-'

Shiori Kurokase: Hey, it's all right if you review late. Better late than never. (Usually.) I've had times like that too, where I want to read something but I just don't feel like it for awhile. Anyway, I kinda wish you'd told me what you liked about the last chapter; lazy you. Oh well. At least I know you still love me. Or at least, like the story. Heh.

Purple Ghost Sausage: You know, weird thing, when I wrote Jordan's birthday in there, I thought of Harry Potter's birthday too. Weird. Glad you liked the part of Jordan's birthday being years before she's born; I swear I read that somewhere before.

Moonchild524: Aw, I'm glad you like my story. :3 Always a nice thing to know.

**Syldoran: I curse this freaking lawyer and I want him to go away! **

_**Syldoran points at the lawyer, who just looks back at her, confused.**_

**Ed: And you really think shouting is going to help?**

**Syldoran: Helps me.**

**Al: #sighs and shakes his head# This is getting nowhere.**

**Syldoran: Since when does anything get anyone anywhere?**

**Ed: Since when does that make sense?**

**Syldoran: Stop it.**

**Lawyer: If we could hurry this up, I've got a courtroom to go to at three. . . .**

**Syldoran: Never! **

**Lawyer: Um... if you just admit it, then you'll get your game systems back intact.**

**Syldoran: My Wii and Gamecube are missing?**

**Lawyer: They are now.**

**Syldoran: Chikushou... Fine, I don't own anything but Jordan.**

* * *

"Teran, stop it! He's gonna die!"

"But he's so cute!"

"That's no reason to asphyxiate him!"

"To... what?"

"Blade needs air!" Jordan pointed at the black feline, clawing desperately at Teran's arms for freedom.

With a disappointed sigh, the freckled red-head girl set Blade gently on the ground, where he immediately bolted for cover behind Jordan. "Sorry," she said.

"It's okay," Jordan assured her. "But I'd rather have Blade alive then dead, thanks."

"Of course," Teran laughed.

The two began walking on down the dirt path, chatting like old friends, although they'd really only known each other for the past couple of months. Multiple subjects came up that really never had anything to do with one another. Blade followed merrily behind.

"So why aren't you training with Izumi today?" Teran eventually asked.

"Teacher's really ill today, more so than usual," Jordan replied. "I told her to rest, and I'd just practice by myself for the day."

"Yet I haven't seen you practice," Teran quipped.

"I _was_ on my way to the creek to do that when _somebody_ came up and started choking my cat with her hug."

"Oh yeah. Well, we can still go. I'd love to see you do more alchemy."

"Because you're talentless at the art?"

"Shut up," Teran sniffed.

A few minutes later the trio found themselves at the edge of a sparkling creek. Jordan knelt down by the water's edge and pulled out her ponytail. Her hair had started to grow out again over the last three months, and now reached to her shoulders.

"I still can't believe your hair was as long as you say it was," Teran commented as Jordan tied it back again and re-knotted her bandanna.

"Believe it," Jordan said wryly. "I still miss it."

With a giggle, Teran added, "So what color are your eyes today, oh ever-changing one?"

"Don't call me that." Jordan glanced again at her reflection and then said, "Green and brown, a little gray around the edges. That's what they've been lately." She took a piece of chalk from her pocket and began drawing a transmutation circle on the ground. She'd had to do this since she started with Izumi, to avoid lengthy interrogations on her no-circle skill. Teran watched over her shoulder, but was soon distracted.

"Hey, look over there!" she cried excitedly. In the midst of writing a symbol, Jordan jerked in surprise and completely ruined the rune.

"What?" she demanded, rubbing away the chalk and writing it again.

Teran pointed. "That boy over there."

Jordan looked down the creek. About a hundred feet down, by a small house, a young man, shirtless and sweaty and slightly muscular, was working on splitting wood for the cooler winter weather to come within another month or so.

"So?" Jordan asked indifferently. "A guy's working." She put down her chalk, then clapped her hands and pressed them to her circle.

"'So?'" The fifteen-year-old repeated dreamily. "He's cute!"

The younger of the two let out a very un-ladylike snort of amusement. "Sure, whatever. Hey look, I made a sword." Jordan picked up the plain sword she'd transmuted and ran a finger along the crosspiece.

"Jordan! Oh, you're so infuriating sometimes!" Teran wailed.

Jordan shrugged. "I find a sword more interesting than a sweaty guy chopping wood logs."

Teran sat down next to Jordan as she transmuted the sword back into the ground and began drawing a new circle. "You can't possibly tell me you've never liked a boy," Teran said incredulously.

"Sure I can. Listen: I have never liked a boy," Jordan said, completely discrediting Teran's theory.

"Never even thought a guy was attractive?"

"Nope." Jordan rolled her eyes and finished her circle, then used it to transmute a set of kunai knives and shuriken, Japanese weaponry of which she was quite fond. "When you've got a woman twice your height and age beating the crap out of you, that's kind of one of the last things you have time to think about."

"What is wrong with you?" Teran asked, wide-eyed.

"I've yet to suffer from a raging onslaught of female hormones," Jordan answered simply, picking up one of her four-pointed throwing stars.

Teran continued to pester her on the subject. "Come on! You're fourteen years old. Surely there's been one special kind of guy in your life by now." She sounded almost hopeful.

Jordan hesitated in reaching for a kunai. "No," she said eventually. "That time'll come, I'm sure, but for now I just couldn't possibly think of anyone, outside family, as more than a friend."

Teran sighed, then brightened as a new thought came to her mind. "Hey, Jordan, now that I think about it, I don't think you're the first apprentice Izumi's had."

"Hm? Oh, no, I'm not. Ed and Al were with her a few years back," Jordan answered. "A couple of good friends of mine, actually. Haven't I told you this a few times already?"

"You know them?"

"Yep."

Teran heaved another dreamy breath. "The older one was kind of cute, I remember," she said airily.

"Edward?"

"Yeah, that was his name."

Rolling her eyes again, Jordan said, "You're too easily amused by the looks of guys."

"If you'd stop being such a tomboy, you would be too!"

"If you stopped being such a girly-girl, you wouldn't be!"

"Hey, did you like him?"

"What?" Jordan balked. "Of course not. I just finished telling you I've never once thought of men that way. Jeez, you're more immature than I am sometimes."

"Well, I mean, he's just your type. You can both do alchemy, both are a bit hot-tempered, you're both kind of short-"

"Teran, you traitor!"

"-And you've acted pretty weird before when I've talked about him," Teran finished.

Slamming her hand down on the ground, irritated to the point of anger, Jordan hissed, "I don't like him, or any other guy. _End of story._"

Not frightened by Jordan's flaring temper -which, as the brunette didn't know, was actually strengthening Teran's argument-, Teran continued. "But-"

"Jordan!" a young boy's voice interrupted Teran's protest. A nine-year-old kid with sandy hair came running up the creek toward Jordan. She quickly transmuted her weapons back into the ground and pulled Blade out of the kid's way before his tail was stepped on.

"Jason, what is it?" she asked quickly. He looked kind of panicked. "I'm not fixing any more of your toys if you keep breaking them."

"No, it's not that," Jason denied, "there was a man looking for you."

Jordan cocked one dark eyebrow at this proclamation. "Who is it?" When Jason shook his head to say he didn't know, she tried again. "Well, what did he look like?" Teran watched the conversation with interest.

Jason thought for a second. "He had brown hair," he said decidedly, "and brown eyes too."

"That's really common," Jordan said, dismissing the description as entirely useless. "What about what he was wearing?"

"Kinda like a blue dress," Jason said.

"Jason!"

"Okay, okay. He was wearing a long blue overcoat with silver lining on it, and medals. Then he had blue pants under it and shiny black boots. Also, I think he had a silver chain in his pocket. He asked me if I knew where to find you."

Jordan felt her face going pale, and her eyes widening in fear. "Where did you tell him to look for me?" she asked quickly. Teran regarded her curiously.

"Is it really that bad, Jordan?" she wanted to know.

"It could be. Where did you tell him, Jason?"

Jason almost looked ashamed. "I-I told him to ask Izumi," he said meekly.

"Ah _hell_ no!" Jordan near shouted before leaping to her feet and bolting off too fast for anybody to make a move to stop her.

"Please don't be true, please don't be true, _please _don't be true," she moaned repeatedly to herself as she ran.

After about a minute she came upon Izumi's home. She barely managed to skid to a stop in front of the door, and running a hand nervously through her bangs to make sure she was moderately presentable, turned the doorknob and swung the door inward, knowing that Izumi would be up doing something or another.

"Teacher, I heard someone was looking for-gah!" Jordan's statement was cut short as something metallic cracked against her forehead with such a force she stumbled backward and landed on her rear. She could swear there were now little yellow birds flying in dizzying circles as she stared into the depths of what she later called "attempting to control her consciousness."

"Man, what was that for?" she asked weakly as she propped herself up on her elbows in a vain attempt to get herself into a sitting position. Whatever had hit her rolled from her stomach to drop onto the ground.

Izumi had thrown her pocket watch at her.

Jordan looked with wide eyes at the state alchemist's emblem, then sharply brought her gaze to meet Izumi's. Those dark eyes were mixed with anger and disappointment in her student, enough to make Jordan feel ashamed without a single word from her teacher's lips.

"T-teacher, I-"

"You sold your soul to these dogs of the military!" Izumi hissed fiercely, cutting off Jordan's beginnings of an apology.

"I-"

"You lied to me!"

"But-"

"You've been secretly working for these filthy pawns of the state!" Izumi crossed the room in four long strides to the door and smacked Jordan sharply across the face. Jordan bit her lip to keep herself from so much as gasping, and blinked rapidly to keep back the stinging tears of pain welling in her eyes.

Stumbling to find her tongue, Jordan tried again. "Teacher, I can explain-"

"Don't call me your teacher any longer!" Izumi raged, and slapped her again even harder upside the head.

"Are you sure doing that won't make her pass out?" a male's voice asked doubtfully. Jordan cast a glare toward the source of the sound, a man standing off to the side of the house in full military uniform.

"You just shut up!" she yelled, afterwards earning another backhand to the head from Izumi.

Jordan got to her feet carefully, struggling to regain a confident stance. She snatched up her watch and shoved it hastily it into her pocket. "Teacher, please, I couldn't help it-I was pressed into service, I-"

"There is no state alchemist who unwilling joins the military!" Izumi interrupted. She grabbed Jordan by the front of her shirt and threw her, face-down, into the grass.

"You are no longer welcome as my apprentice," Izumi spat before turning back into the house and slamming the door with a teeth-rattling boom.

Her breathing shuddering as she attempted to fill her winded lungs, Jordan propped herself up on her forearms and twisted enough to look back at Izumi just as the door was violently closed. She then looked back to the military officer, standing with a rather shocked expression.

"Well, happy now? I just lost the only apprenticeship I'm ever gonna get," Jordan growled. _And possibly my lead to get home!_ she added in her thoughts.

The man simply stared at her for a second before saying, "I'm sorry."

With a heavy sigh, brewing tears that she fought, and a lump in her throat, Jordan waved her hand weakly to dismiss the topic. "Don't worry about it now. Too late. Just. . . were you the one looking for me?"

"Um, yes, I believe so. You're Jordan, the Lightning Alchemist, correct?" he said, and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. Jordan nodded and took it from him and unfolded the message. "This is from Colonel Mustang."

Before Jordan read, she looked back at the man again and asked, "Hey, quick question: are you Lieutenant Rowe?"

"That would be me, yes," he answered.

"Well met, again," she said, and began skimming the hand-written text on the paper:

_Lightning-_

_It has come to my attention that I haven't put you to much work for us lately. It's requested that you report to Central immediately; I have matters I need taken care of around Central H.Q. that require your touch, providing you've yet to die._

_-Colonel Roy Mustang_

Slack-jawed, Jordan reread the note a few times. "Perfect timing, Colonel," she muttered. "Thank you, Lieutenant Rowe. I'll get myself there." She folded the note and put it in her pocket and then saluted to Rowe, who left afterward.

Blade came trotting up as she pulled her watch from her pocket. Looking down at her cat, Jordan said in a choked voice, "Well, I guess something stupid like this just isn't worth it, huh?" The disappointed expression on Izumi's face was burned into her mind.

--------------------

Jordan was still staring at her watch as the train bumped along the tracks toward Central an hour or so later. Blade lay sleeping peacefully on her lap.

"I envy you, Blade," she whispered. "You get people to take care of you, and you can sleep all day if you want to. I gotta work, have people disappointed in me, unsatisfied with how I do no matter what, work for my own survival, and still try to go back home.

The watch sparkled in the late-afternoon light as she held it up. In a fit of protest, Jordan jerked the watch by the chain upwards, caught it mid-air, then threw it against the back of the seat in front of her. The resulting clatter startled several people and started several disapproving murmurings.

"Damn it all. Just damn it all," she said in shuddering breaths as tears began making their way down her cheeks. "Mustang, this had better be good, for you to reveal another set of mistakes I've made."

Blade stirred in his sleep, sensitive to his friend's emotions. Mewing lightly, he stood, stretched a bit, then pawed at her arm as if trying to offer Jordan a bit of comfort. When she gazed out the window instead, he defiantly hopped from her lap and began scratching around on the floor.

"Blade, what are you doing?" Jordan asked, scrubbing at her eyes. The black cat appeared again, pulling the silver chain of her watch in his mouth.

At least he wanted her to carry on, it seemed.

"Blade, you little . . . ." Jordan let her sentence trail off. She picked up Blade and cradled him in her arms, burying her face in his soft ebony fur. This small comfort made it seem that tomorrow would be better, somehow.

* * *

_Hee hee. . . okay, remember Jordan's name change, that I'll get the rewritten chapters up soon (my computer's being a royal pain right now and won't let me access the files), and review!_


	26. Settling

_Splee._

_Okay, well, I've noticed a few of you went to see my fan fiction drawings. To those of you who did, I'm glad you like them. :3 Ed and Al will be unable to help respond to reviews this chapter, as they have once again witnessed Izumi's rage from last chapter and are now cowering in fear from bad memories in the corner._

Purple Ghost Sausage: I know my picture was a tad hard to see, but I can't do much about it. That's all right. I'm glad you like it.

EagleBlaze: Ouch, yup, poor Jordan. Seems to be getting the crap beaten out of her a lot lately. Izumi really needs to learn to be a bit more patient. Alas, the price of keeping somebody in character. XD Anyway, I'm not really sure where Ed and Al would be in the anime right about now. It's just kinda. . . there.

AJ: Ed and Al will be coming back in a chapter or two. I promise. (#cough# Next chapter probably #cough#) Anyway, other than that, glad you still like it!

Liah Cauthon: Yeah, I'm changing Jordan's name. Lightning Dragon just started to sound kinda weird after awhile. XP Interesting that our OCs share the same alchemist's name. Oh, and QUIT BEING TALLER THAN ME! T-T

Caspercat22: Izumi over-reacting means pain for a lot of people, I think. Ouchies. Oh well. Mustang's a pain in the rear, that's why he had to ruin it for her.

Kyasarin Maarukeehii: Sometimes I wish Izumi would have more patience, too. But, characters must stay in character, sadly. Yep, I do live in Yakima. Kinda cool that you live so close. :3

Cookat and Roookie: Yeah, Mustang was too lazy to pop out of the bush. Poor Rowe, having to go deal with Jordan again. And, of course, poor Jordan for losing her apprenticeship. XP

Kamisori Kaze no Renkinjutsu: I wouldn't want to be in Jordan's place either, if Izumi were that ticked. Pain... Thanks for the compliment. Again.

Your Favorite Plushie: You're my favorite Edward Elric plushie? O.O (Nah, just kidding. I don't have an Edward Elric plushie, though I really want one.) I'm glad you think so highly of my story. :3 If you've been following my story so long, why wait until now to say anything? #wink# Neh, that's all right. As long as you enjoy it, I'm not too picky.

Nakori Elvenborne: Whoa, calm down! O.O Um, Mustang is going to be of use in bringing everyone back together, I'll just say that.

Kisa44: Updating imminent. In fact, if you scroll down a little bit, you'll find it right there.

A Falling Angel: Izumi is a bit harsh, I will agree to some extent. Jordan did learn some, so that's a good thing at least, right? And yep, Jordan won't miss Christmas, in a way. :3

Wandering Hitokiri: Scary thing is, I'd rather be in that situation than around a very ticked Izumi. O.O Chance of survival in either situation: Very low. Jordan may or may not be able to apologize; I'm thinking on that.

_**It's unnaturally quiet. Syldoran is laying on the couch and coughing extremely hard (whether she's really sick or not is beyond our knowledge), and Ed and Al are a little busy cowering in their corner. The lawyer is the only one who seems capable of doing anything.**_

**Lawyer: #scribble scribble#**

_**However, he is busy writing important papers, and re-writing Syl's ownership papers because she somehow burned the last ones. If we look over Mr. Lawyer's shoulder, we will notice something along the lines of "...And I hereby forfeit any rights of ownership to the anime and manga series known as "Fullmetal Alchemist" and any other copyrighted materials I continue to use in this story," although getting Syldoran to sign it is still out of the question.**_

* * *

Jordan yawned widely and gently roused Blade from his sleep on her backpack. Two days on a train with limited stops: Not fun. However, she was in Central now, and could finally find out what it was Colonel Mustang wanted from her. After losing her apprenticeship with Izumi, Jordan was thinking that it had better be a very, _very_ good reason.

Stretching a kink out of her leg and slipping her backpack on to her shoulders, Jordan disembarked from the train and squinted against the harsh late summer sunlight. Blade trotted alongside, mewing in protest of the outdoors as well.

"Well, I guess we're off," Jordan mused, and began off down the road.

At one point, Blade hopped onto her backpack and leaned up on her shoulder. When this happened, Jordan couldn't help but look over her shoulder at him and comment, "Spoiled cat, can't even walk yourself, can you?"

After perhaps a fifteen minute walk, the Central Headquarters loomed ahead on the road. Just outside the doors, Jordan paused, took a deep breath, then put down her backpack with Blade (trusting him to wait) and pushed through the double doors.

Several uniformly dressed-and-slicked men and women wandered through the main room. Dressed in blue jeans and a black shirt with her bangs hanging almost in her eyes, Jordan felt extremely out of place. Many heads did turn to look at the strange girl standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, unsure of where to go.

"Excuse me, miss," one man said coolly as he approached. "I'm afraid you can't be here unless you're with a military escort."

"Hm? Oh, hold on." Jordan fished for her watch in her pocket and pulled it out to display. "I'm good."

"Oh, I didn't know it was you. Excuse me." The man saluted and left.

Jordan raised an eyebrow. "You shouldn't know me," she muttered to his back.

When another woman tried to come up and tell Jordan the same thing as the previous officer, Jordan was once again puzzled as the woman recognized her upon seeing the watch. Had her reputation for being the second-youngest state alchemist spread without her knowing?

Well, whatever it was, she was tired of people asking. Jordan transmuted the chain of her watch into a thinner but longer length, then tied it around her neck so it hung as a necklace would. This seemed to work, as officers would walk near as if coming to talk to her, but then immediately avert their path elsewhere upon seeing the watch.

This problem taken care of, Jordan began looking around for any hints as to where to find the colonel. A familiar blonde-haired woman happened to catch her eye, standing in the opening into a hallway.

"First Lieutenant!" Jordan exclaimed, striding quickly over to the older woman. Hawkeye blinked a time or two in surprise, then, seeing the teenager approaching, managed a small smile.

"Hello, Jordan. It's nice to see you again," Hawkeye said politely.

"Same," Jordan responded in kind. "Colonel Mustang called me back, but getting to see people again is a good side to it, I guess."

Riza nodded. "The colonel asked me to wait for you, so it's best we get going now." As an afterthought, she added, "Interesting way to have your watch."

Jordan glanced down at her watch and chuckled as she unbuckled the chain and retired the accessory to her pocket. "Got tired of people asking me to leave, but I guess that's not necessary now."

Hawkeye led the way down several halls. Just when Jordan was thinking she'd never remember all the twists and turns, they reached a very simple wooden door. Riza knocked loudly on the wood, and an annoyed-sounding "Enter" sounded beyond.

Roy Mustang sat at his desk, a handful of papers scattered across the wooden surface, and what looked suspiciously like a large spot of ink was in the corner. As Jordan and Hawkeye entered the room, he suddenly slammed down the phone (trying to set up another date, Jordan thought) and turned his attention to the newcomers.

"Ah, it seems Lieutenant Rowe delivered my message successfully," he said, a smirk forming on his lips as he propped his elbows on his desk and rested his chin on interlocked fingers.

"Very," Jordan answered as Riza left again, presumably to take care of some other business. Glancing around the room, she met Mustang's gaze evenly and said, "I see you've been promoted to Central, Colonel. Congratulations."

Mustang's smirk grew wider. "Things can change considerably in several months' time. Though it seems you've gotten no taller since we last met, nor does it look as though you're any more competent," he said smugly.

An icy gleam entered Jordan's eyes; she was beyond "height" insults anymore, but she wasn't willing to take much of anything from Mustang. Gesturing toward the unorganized desk upon which Mustang leaned, she said casually, "And though you've been promoted, I see you've still yet to learn basic organizational skills such as stacking papers, and simple manners, such as not insulting a guest three seconds after she walks in the door and compliments you, are still beyond your grasp."

The colonel's amusement was diminished a fair amount after this remark, though he didn't allow it to show. "Well, it appears that you've still yet to learn to hold your comments," he said.

"Yes, but I find that when somebody insults me, I prefer to give them the same rather than let it slide," Jordan pointed out. Noting how Mustang suddenly began trying to covertly sweep papers together with one hand, she changed the topic by asking, "If I may get to the point, what did you want me to report to H.Q. for?"

Seeming to be dividing his attention between Jordan and his hopeless cleaning task, he responded, "It's come to my attention that you've been fairly inactive in military duties as of late."

"Well, I apologize Colonel, but you haven't sent me on any assignments in these last several months."

Roy lifted his head to look at her. "That's something we just have to change, isn't it?"

Jordan cocked her head. "You have an assignment for me, sir?"

"Something to that effect," the colonel answered. "I have work I need taken care of around here, and since you seemed not to be busy, I figured you would be perfect for the job. You'll be working a simple nine-to-five shift every day, weekends off."

Jordan had to do her best not to give him a blank look. "You had me report to the headquarters so I could do office work?" she asked bluntly.

"Well, I can't very well send a thirteen-year-old out to fight, now can I?"

Trying not to roll her eyes, she said, "If I may correct you, I'm fourteen, sir."

"Fourteen-year-old, pardon me. Either way, I couldn't send you out on the harder assignments like I do the older state alchemists, could I?"

Disguising a sigh as a heavy breath, Jordan was forced to agree. "I suppose not."

"Good." The colonel cleared his throat and fixed a three-page pile of papers to the corner of his desk. "Of course, if you'll be working in the headquarters, that means you'll need a place to stay." When Jordan gave him no sign that she understood a word of what he meant, he clarified. "There are apartments near H.Q. where military officers stay when they don't have a place of their own or are working out of their regular city. So, you'll be signed for one where you can live unless working otherwise."

Jordan blinked. _Nice, _she thought.

"Also, since you will be working in H.Q., that means you'll need to be fitted for a uniform."

_Ah crap._

-------------------

"Hey, watch it with that measuring tape!" Jordan snipped as the woman bumped her glasses off her nose in an attempt to measure for the length of Jordan's arm.

"Sorry!" the blonde apologized nervously, pulling back the tape. She walked behind Jordan and brought the measuring tape under the girl's arms, and before any protests could be made pulled it sharply over her chest, forcing a sharp intake of breath of surprise from the teenager.

_The things I put up with,_ Jordan thought bitterly.

"Okay, that should be it," said the woman, rolling up the measuring tape around her hand. "I think we just might have a uniform in your size." She disappeared into a separate room, leaving Jordan to wait.

Luckily, it only took a few minutes for the woman to find what she was looking for. She came back out a minute or two later, with a neatly folded uniform set and a pair of black boots. She handed them to Jordan and instructed her to change into the uniform to make sure it fit properly, pointing toward a curtain in the corner of the room that could be pulled around to create a private nook.

Jordan did as she was told, even going through to the lengths to push back her hair as required for the uniform (though it only held for about a minute). When she went back out to show the blonde the fit, the woman seemed almost ecstatic.

"You look perfect in that uniform!" she admonished.

"Well, it fits, so I think this'll be good," Jordan confirmed, blowing her falling bangs out of her eyes. She'd need to invest in some pins, unfortunately.

Jordan quickly changed back and left the uniform supply, wanting to go as soon as possible. She'd already been checked out an apartment, so that issue was taken care of. All that was left was to actually go there and get some sleep before her first official job the next day.

Outside the headquarters, Jordan picked up her backpack (which was still where she'd left it an hour and a half ago, amazingly) and immediately noticed something wrong. Blade wasn't waiting there as he should have been.

"Blade? Blade!" Jordan started calling frantically. She looked around fearfully, afraid something might have happened to her faithful companion.

A black shape shifted underneath a tree off to the side of her vision, and when Jordan realized what it was, she heaved a sigh of relief. Blade had simply gone to sleep under the tree in the cool shade. Feeling a bit ridiculous for jumping to conclusions, she called him over and began toward the apartments, perhaps a half-mile walk away.

During her walk, she began thinking. Was she finally going to be able to just settle down, at least as far as this hectic life would allow? She'd been through travels and places but never found a thing, and after her short training period with Izumi Jordan didn't feel that she'd want to continue anymore. There was still a chance that she'd find a way home, but she wasn't getting anywhere with it. Every lead she thought she'd find, turned out to be a dead end after all.

Recently, Jordan realized, everything she did was hardly about even getting home anymore. It was more about just trying to prove she could do something right for a change. Yes, the back motive was to find a solution to getting back to where she belonged, but as she said before, she was getting used to the idea of staying in Amestris. She wanted to go home still, very much so, but now she'd have to step it up again or just be where she was.

_Wow, I have turned into such a sap,_ Jordan thought. _Amazing what eight months from home and living on your own will do._

It wasn't too long before several sets of apartment complexes came into view. Now it was just a matter of figuring out which one was hers. Pulling a piece of paper and a silver key from her pocket, Jordan glanced at some numbers on the paper. Complex B and number 201, it said.

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard," Jordan mused. She looked off to the side at one of the complexes, and spied the number "207" near a door. "It's right there. Come on Blade."

Descending a short flight of stairs, Jordan soon found the door marked with the correct number. She slid the key into the lock and swung the door open, not expecting anything grand.

It wasn't, but it was still rather nice. The apartment was already furnished, however plainly, and was big enough for several people to stay at once.

"I feel like I'm twenty-five eleven years ahead of my time," Jordan said, making her way to one of the bedrooms and dropping her bag on the bed. "A nine-to-five job and my own place before I've even graduated college."

She put her still-folded uniform on the desk and collapsed on the bed. It was only three o' clock; now it was time to kill a few hours until tomorrow, when the real "adventure" would begin.

Pulling a pillow over her head, she started thinking of the best way to kill Mustang and what books she hadn't gone through in the Central library. It was time to get serious about going home again.

* * *

_Whee, and stuff. I know, a bit of a boring chapter. Next one should be better. (I can't write exciting when I'm trying not to cough up a lung, stupid sickness.) Remember to review!_

_Oh, and I posted a little goof picture of Jordan in her uniform, so check it out if it interests you._


	27. Unexpected Happenings

_Mwee._

_Hey, hey, guess what? As of June 12, 2007, I am fourteen years old! Woo-hoo for my birthday! But, I am not greedy. I am giving the gift to you today! It's very special. Cherish it well. _XD_  
_

Suri the Half Sheikah: Geez, you're getting into my habit of constantly changing your pen name. XP Ah well. I don't really care about Roy one way or the other; I think he's evil but I don't worry much about him unless I accidentally read an EdxMustang fan fiction.

Ed: Please, _please_ don't mention those in front of me.

Me: Sorry.

Your Favorite Plushie: I am better, thank you very much. :3 I won't sue you, as I am not that mean. Lots of people like Riza and there is no shame in it. XD Besides, I have enough issues with lawyers as it is.

Caspercat22: Nah, you're not being too cheeky in wishing for a bit more action in the chapters. Hopefully, this will help fulfill needs of some of my loyal fans. :3 Yays!

Ed: And it will happily involve-

Me: Shut up! Don't spoil anything!

Dancing Nightmare: Don't worry about excuses; I don't care, as long as I know you're still here. I'm glad you liked how I kept Izumi in character; I find that rather hard to do. X( But I managed. And, I know about the names. I went back and played with one or two. But Teran is a real name, in a way. Contradictory. And who said Jordan doesn't long for home? I said she's getting used to staying in Amestris. There's a difference.

Al: Hardly.

Me: There is!

Kagami no Renkinjustsushi: Well, I curse Mustang for giving Jordan work, but that's what I get for writing my story, eh? Jordan may or may not get used to the uniform.

Liah Cauthon: Yes, it is still a chapter. And I know you can't stop being taller than me, since it technically can't be help. And, I do drink milk. More than anybody else in my family. Because, unlike Ed, I believe milk to be the best drink in the world, right behind certain brands of soda and eggnog. XD

Ed: #mimics retching on the floor#

Me: #kicks him in the side# Knock it off.

Kisa44: Broken records are okay when they giving me praise. :3 Either way, I'm glad you're still enjoying my work.

Cha-chan-hyper: School is about to end for me. ;3 Yay! By the way, yes, discontinue telling me about the third "Pirates" movie. I have yet to see it. T-T

Ed: Alchemists are still better.

Me: Yeah, they are, but this isn't related.

Wandering Hitokiri: You know, when I get around to playing with lighters and such, I make Mustang look a bit weak in comparison too. XD I've never tried blowing up Peeps or anything, but then, I haven't had any in years. As for Jordan's revenge, I've got something small planned.

Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1: I wish I had a military uniform, too. But, alas, I do not. I'm glad you thought the chapter was funny, despite the utter lack of action within.

Kamisori Kaze no Renkinjutsu: Ick, yes, desk work. Sounds like you didn't have much of a fun day typing. Glad to know Jordan has your pity, and I'm sure she appreciates it greatly.

Coolkat and Roookie: I don't want to know what a full-time job's like either. After seeing how ticked my dad can be after his. . . no. Anyway, the next chapter is here, so just scroll down and you'll see it.

Mew Sarin Alchemist: If you're lazy or don't have time to review, those are good enough excuses for me. As long as you're still around. Glad you still love the story. As for Ed and Al coming back-

Al: There's a good chance that-

Me: Al, I just yelled at your brother for spoilers!

Khait Khepri: I'm glad you like the story. I most certainly shall continue. :3

Anime Angel Alchemist: Well, I'm glad you like this so much. :3 Welcome aboard to the insanity, and make sure to buckle your seatbelt securely. Keep all arms and legs within the story, as the author will not be responsible for paying for auto-mail in the case of lost limbs.

Kagami no Renkinjutsushi: Thank you. Chapter twenty-seven is here, so go ahead and enjoy that.

Shinobi Alchemist: Glad you like it. I know my story's a little contradictory to itself; I planned badly. I'm working on fixing that. v.v' Anyway, enjoy.

_**And to pick up where we left off, it seems this narrator was correct in saying that is beyond practical reasoning to think Syldoran will ever sign these papers disclaiming everything in her name.  
**_

**Syldoran: Oh, how I wish I could live this life. . . it would be so awesome. . . .**

**_Particularly since she seems very interested in an anime called "Naruto" currently playing on a laptop. She scowls when a black-haired character named "Sasuke" comes on screen, but is otherwise happy._**

**Ed: Let's just leave her for now. She's not going to hear anything when she's in this mood.**

**Lawyer: What mood is this?**

**Al: The "super-obsessive tune-out-the-rest-of-the-world" mood.  
**

**Lawyer: Ah. . . .**

* * *

"Alright. It's been a couple of months. I finally feel like I can hold still long enough to do my research and maybe have an idea to get home. Where is the life-changing interruption?" 

The calender on the library wall remained mute. The word "November" stared back at her in bold black letters, but otherwise Jordan received no answer.

"Fine, don't answer me then." Jordan sighed and reached behind her ear to fix one of the pins holding back her bangs for perhaps the thousandth time that day. No matter what day it was or what she did, no pin could ever keep back her bangs for long.

When she finished, she looked dismally at the pile of books on the table. That was one of her random assorted duties she had working around Central H.Q., among many others given to her by Mustang. Very few of these things included alchemy, and most of them included running around various hallways until she found some random person. She was lucky to get into the library; it probably didn't happen much because she'd so far been caught three times poring over an alchemy book, writing down notes on her arm to put in her journal when she got home.

It was a boring life now, if she was reduced to reading in secret or during her lunch breaks.

So far, she'd hardly come any closer to her hardened resolve of getting home. Every time Jordan thought she'd found a new theory to try, there was always something in the way or her getting there, or she'd find a mistake in the idea and have to start over again. Yes, there was still the one theory she'd found a long time ago, but she still had to work out the kinks in that one, and to do that she had to continue doing more research.

Jordan picked up an armful of books to put away, and began wandering amongst the shelves for their respective locations. One by one the volumes were put back in their rightful places. As she stood on tiptoe to reach on the top shelf, she paused. The last book in her hand was one she hadn't gone through yet in her couple months of being in Central. She glanced around to see if anybody else was in the library with her; it was empty. Believing she wouldn't be sorely missed (she was off in fifteen minutes anyway), she retired to a table in the back of the room.

Already knowing what to look for, Jordan cracked the book open and shuffled through the pages until she met with anything that caught her eye. When the topic of the Gate was mentioned, she paused in her page-flipping.

The fourteen-year-old read through several paragraphs of text, quickly growing bored as she realized she was reading the same things she'd read thousands of times before. Then one line caught her by surprise.

" 'There have even been rumors of attempting to bypass this supposed "Gate" by offering a sacrifice of a soul, oftentimes of an animal'," she read aloud. Her eyes widened behind her glasses.

This was it.

Right here, in front of her, this was her ticket home.

Jordan slammed the book shut and jumped to her feet, running to the shelf to hastily shove it back where it belonged before barely containing herself from running out of the library. She was off in five minutes now; perfect time for her to get to the front door if she walked. Though she was twitching in such anticipation that it was almost impossible.

Taking a memorized course through the hallways, it was only a matter of time before she could see the way out of the headquarters. She quickened her pace. Jordan was almost to the door when somebody caught her by the arm.

"Major, wait!"

_Damn, _why couldn't these things ever happen when she wasn't busy?

"What is it?" Jordan demanded quickly, pulling her arm from the man's grasp. "Private Lenin, I have to get going-"

The red-haired young man, only perhaps twenty-two years old, shook his head. "I need your help with something, and I can't ask anybody else about it."

"That's because I'm a fourteen-year-old girl and nobody ever takes a teenager seriously enough to think she means offense when she laughs her head off, even when she's a higher rank, isn't it?

"..."

"Your silence isn't helping my pride, you know. That, and your time is ticking down. What do you need me for that nobody else can apparently help you with?"

"Just come with me," Lenin said quietly. He glanced around as if he were afraid he were being watched, then began leading her down a hallway Jordan rarely used. She looked around disinterestedly.

Jordan remained silent for about a minute. "Private, seriously, what is it? I don't want to be dragged around for no real issue," she finally said, raising an eyebrow at the older man.

Lenin was quiet for a moment or two, then said, "I messed something up with my pistol. I was hoping, that as a state alchemist, you could help me to fix it with alchemy."

"So that explains why you're taking me down to the firing range, doesn't it?" When the private nodded, Jordan sighed. "Please, _please_ don't tell me you just left your gun lying on a table."

"Um. . . ."

"You seriously just left it there?"

"..."

"If that thing is gone, I am _not_ going to be the one to tell the higher-ups."

Luckily, when they reached the range in the back of the headquarters building, Private Lenin's gun was still laying, undisturbed, on a dirty white cloth. The magazine of rounds was sitting next to it, as if Lenin had been working with it. A bottle of cleaning fluid was there as well.

"So what's the problem?" Jordan asked.

"It's jammed or something," Lenin answered shamefully. "I was cleaning it, and then I went to fire a round or two and the trigger would stick." He covered his face with one hand and looked toward the floor. "But you can fix it, right?"

"Sure." Jordan picked up the pistol, then checked the safety before proceeding to simply dismantle the pistol into several pieces. Lenin watched in amazement as Jordan examined each piece individually, then put the whole thing back together again. She slid the magazine into the bottom and handed the gun back to Lenin, handle first.

"Try it now," she directed.

Doubtfully, Lenin slid on a pair of headphones supplied by the headquarters and moved down to the ranges. Jordan followed dutifully behind, and backed up when he lifted the pistol toward a target positioned at a distance of about fifty feet back. She clamped her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut as three loud bangs sounded, and corresponding holes appeared in the paper target (though none really hit the human silhouette). The private lowered the gun and looked toward his fourteen-year-old savior, slightly slack-jawed.

"Well, I'm not too sure how you managed to screw it up, but it's fixed now," Jordan said with a shrug as she removed her hands from her ears. "Are you sure you're certified to handle that thing?"

"How did you do that?" Lenin asked, wide-eyed.

"My dad had a gun for his job," Jordan answered. "When I was thirteen, he taught me to take care of it, just in case of an emergency or in case, by some god-forsaken reason, it was left within the reach of my younger siblings. Surprisingly enough, I still remember what he taught me." Jordan turned to leave, but with one glance over her shoulder before leaving added, "You really ought to get a manual or something, seeing as a fourteen-year-old just saved your butt."

She left in a non-chalant manner, blissfully unaware of the needles and daggers the older man was glaring at her.

As soon as she was outside the headquarters, Jordan glanced around, then burst into a run back toward her apartment, a bit more than irritated by the interruption. She seemed to get a certain amount of respect and disrespect around headquarters, depending on who she worked with and where she was; younger members didn't seem to enjoy her company nearly as much. While she didn't really care what people thought of her, Jordan wished that they would quit treating her as if she were a child in their presence. If she had a military standing, obviously she could take care of herself. What was so hard to understand about that?

Jordan sighed mentally, accompanying this with a roll of her eyes. If she'd really hit the breakthrough she was looking for, she'd be long gone and done with putting up with the flack she was getting.

She ran until she was out of breath and was forced to walk the remaining distance. As soon as she reached her home, she hardly opened the front door as much as she burst through it, making it rebound on its hinges and close itself. Blade meowed in a "welcome home" manner, but Jordan hardly noticed as she retreated back to the bedroom she'd staked out as her own.

Once there, she dug through a heavy layer of papers on her desk until she found two things; a long stick of chalk and a paper with a very intricate transmutation circle drawn upon it. Jordan had been working on this circle for probably three weeks by now; she wanted it perfect, with no room for mistakes. Every last rune and line had been researched thoroughly, done and redone until she was satisfied that it would be correct in every way possible.

The girl took these two items into the kitchen, dropped to her knees, and simply began to draw on the tile floor. Using the paper for reference, she began the tedious process of copying the transmutation array onto the kitchen tile, checking her work constantly and often erasing what she did to start over in certain sections.

The entire session took the better part of an hour. Toward the end of it, Blade came along and simply sat next to her, as if examining her desperate process. Even he seemed a bit excited when Jordan dropped the piece of chalk (now not even half its original five-inch length) to the floor, though the fiery glint in her eye seemed a bit startling, almost insane.

"Come on Blade. I need your help with this," Jordan said sweetly, picking up her feline friend and placing him in the center of the circle. He made no protest, trusting his master.

With one last check to each and every detail and finally finding no possible way to improve, Jordan took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. If this worked now, she'd be back home. No more alchemy, no more homonculi with murderous intent, no more military, just plain old Yakima.

Jordan ran her gaze over the circle, then clapped for the transmutation. Just before her hands slammed down onto the array, Blade meowed pleasantly.

Her hands froze an inch from the chalk lines. They began to tremble.

What was she doing?

Blade cocked his head to the side at a slight angle, as if wondering what the hesitation was. Jordan remained in her frozen position for several seconds, before she gently lowered her hands to her sides. She couldn't follow through with this.

"What the hell was I thinking?" Jordan whispered. "I can't do this." It wasn't right, simply throwing away a life of another living being so she could continue to live in a more favorable manner.

Blinking back tears brimming in her eyes from how close she was to sacrificing the life of who was currently her dearest friend, Jordan swiped a hand through the array she'd worked so hard on, then clapped her hands and cleared the dust into another small stick of chalk. She picked up her few materials, gave Blade a pat on the head, then shuffled back to her room and threw her things onto the desk carelessly.

Stripping off her uniform coat to opt in favor of more comfortable clothing, Jordan happened to glance down at the front of her under-uniform black t-shirt. When she read the white letters printed on the front, she couldn't help but smile slightly. To keep herself from going stir-crazy during the day, she'd transmute the dyes in her shirt to read something different every day that nobody else could see because it was under the coat. Today it read, "While Everybody Else Suggests Putting Military Funding to Weaponry and Defense, I Just Think We Need It For An 'Annoy Colonel Mustang Day' Every Now And Then."

With a small chuckle despite her otherwise depressed mood, Jordan changed into sweatpants, but left the t-shirt on, then went into the kitchen again to find something that was remotely edible without cooking.

That night, despite how hard she tried to push the evening's incident to the back of her mind, it gave her quite a restless night of sleep.

--------------------

The next morning, Jordan could swear that there was a phone ringing in her dreams. Why there was a phone ringing in perpetual darkness, she had no idea.

Then she snapped open her eyes.

No, that wasn't her dream. It was the phone on her nightstand.

Reaching out with one sleepy-weary hand and trying for a voice that sounded as if she weren't half-dead, she picked up the phone and muttered, "Hello?"

"Good morning. I hope I didn't wake you up?"

"No Colonel, of course not," Jordan snipped airily. In her mind she added, _Of course you did, seeing as it's my day off, you bastard. _ "Now may I ask why you're calling me at-" she glanced at the clock, "Eight o' clock in the morning? On a Saturday?"

--------------------

"Brother, stay awake!"

"..."

"Brother!"

"What?!"

"You're dozing again!"

"It's hardly my fault! I'm usually sleeping at this time!"

"That's a surprise."

Ed sighed. "Damn it Colonel, why the hell do you want us here _now_?" He irritably shook his head to throw back some of the golden hair that hung in his eyes. So far he'd been dragged back to Central while right in the middle of important business, spent two days on a train, woken up from what had been a very pleasing nap, and then thrown into the office of his least favorite person in the world.

Needless to say, he was not a very happy alchemist.

Mustang completely ignored him and Al, opting for continuing a very early phone conversation. The two brothers discovered that, if they were quiet, they could just barely hear the person on the other end. It sounded like a girl. Mustang calling another girl to get a date?

"Now may I ask why you're calling me at eight o' clock in the morning? On a Saturday?" the female's voice asked. She sounded tired.

"I need you to come in, and now would be a most excellent time," Mustang quipped pleasantly.

"What? Colonel, it's my day _off_! That, and you know I don't even come in until nine! What makes today so special?"

"It's important," Mustang said. "And besides, you'll only be here for a short while. You don't even have to wear your uniform."

"What's so important? Can't it wait until later?" Now the girl sounded irritated.

"No."

The girl sighed. "Fine. I'll be there in about half an hour."

"You can't come earlier?"

"Sure, Colonel. I'll come without first showering, dressing, combing my hair, and eating. That way I'll be completely ticked and nowhere near presentable when I get there."

This brought a bit of laugh from the older of the Elric brothers sitting in the room. The Flame Alchemist raised an eyebrow.

"Fine. Half an hour."

The line slammed dead before any further pleasantries could be exchanged.

--------------------

Jordan let out a heavy breath. She finally felt like sleeping in and then she's told to get up. How does that work?

Sitting up and stretching on her hands and knees in quite a dog-like manner, Jordan worked some kinks from her muscles, then grabbed some clothes from her dresser and shuffled into the adjoining bathroom to take a shower. She was done in five minutes flat, after which she dressed and put on her glasses. Looking in the mirror, she ran her finger down two streaks of white hair that met in the middle of her head. Due to a want of change, she'd dyed them alchemically the other day, although when she was working she had to change it back. With a shrug, she pulled her hair back into a hair clip, then went into the kitchen. She jammed some bread into the toaster, then went to feed Blade.

"Why the hell does the colonel want me at headquarters so early?" Jordan complained. "So damn close to making my breakthrough, and with a bit more research I could've had it figured out. Now I've gotta go delay that again for some likely pointless reason."

With a sigh, she retrieved some butter from the refrigerator, and a butter knife from the drawer, and when her toast popped she was quick to spread her butter over the hot bread and head out the door, not bothering to put anything away. It could wait until she got back.

Mustang just loved to annoy her.

--------------------

"You know Al, for some reason this seems very familiar," Ed stated quietly.

"What do you mean, Brother?"

"It seems like we've done this before. Sitting in Mustang's office to wait for some girl that we've probably never met."

Almost right after he said this, a knock came at the door. Mustang smirked, issued the command to come in, and leaned forward on his desk. A girl of perhaps fourteen opened the door. She wore camouflage jeans, a green t-shirt, and had very dark brown hair with a white streak in the middle of her head that spread down either side and disappeared into a hair clip that pinned it all up against the back of her head. There was a silver chain around her neck, but the actual necklace was tucked in the front of her shirt, and she had square-framed glasses. She seemed a bit familiar to both the brothers, but also very strange at the same time.

"Mornin' Colonel," she said, seeming as if she were doing her best to disguise a bitter tone.

"Morning Jordan," Roy said bluntly.

_I swear I've heard that name before,_ Ed thought, furrowing his brow in concentration.

"So, Colonel, what was the great announcement that you needed me here for?" Jordan asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms. A slight shift of her weight onto one foot brought Ed's attention to a white symbol on the back of her shirt; a cross with a snake winding around it and a crown and angel wings above it, like the one on the back of the red coat he was currently wearing.

A flash of movement caught Jordan's eye. She glanced off to the side and thought she saw nothing. A double take revealed to her otherwise.

Sitting on a couch, watching her almost intently, were Edward and Alphonse, and she was surprised "to all hell," as she would put it.

* * *

_Cliffies for you. :3 Remember to review!_

_Rhyme unintentional. _


	28. Different but Still the Same

_Mwee._

_Well, I'd like to thank all of you who said happy birthday to me. Enough of you did that I don't feel like writing it in individual reviews, so thanks again! Now I'm finally the same age as myself in fiction! XD_

_Also, sorry this took so long. Was grounded for two weeks after kicking my brother in the shin, so I kinda worked when my parents weren't around to see me. And then when I did get off grounding, I went through a stage of "There's-this-chick-online-with-really-good-anime-art-I'm-gonna-look-through-her-gallery-instead-of-working," so . . . yeah.  
_

_Man, that sounds so lame. So very, very lame. . . ._

Your favorite plushie: Yeah, I left ya'll on a cliffhanger. I'm glad to be evil, so thanks for that little compliment! It's good to have Ed and Al back, for me too. Seriously, even I was getting bored writing without them. XP But, yeah. Anyway, what's Royai Day?

Kagami no Renkinjustsushi: Hey, even better yet, now Chapter 28 is here! Whoo! Well, anyway, I'm glad people kinda noticed what Jordan was doing with Blade. I'm the writer and _I'm_ glad she came back to her senses about doing that. O.O And yes, the brothers are back. Definitely cool.

Moonlight Hitokiri: I love the new pen name. :3 Sounds so cool and mysterious. Anyway, yay, the Elrics are back, etc., celebrate, huzzah, yeah. Now, which of Jordan's shirts are you talking about and what did it reveal about her:S I'm confused. Oh, and yes, I did make up the thing about the Gate.

Ed: You'd better have.

Al: Seriously.

Oh yeah. I did. Trust me.

Nakori Elvenborn: As interesting as that would be, no, Ed and I are not going to spontaneously hug each other and then pelt Mustang with paper clips. Speaking of whom, why is he in a cage?

Ed: Don't complain if he's in a cage, it's a good thing.

Celedeen Tachibana: Don't worry, a review isn't a crummy present for my birthday. XD Glad you liked the chapter. I"m not entirely sure myself how Ed could forget someone like Jordan, but continue on and read and hopefully a little bit will be cleared up.

Kamisori Kaze no Renkinjutsu: Pff, I'm incredibly sorry for Ed punching you in the face.

Ed: I was freaking HUGGED.

No excuse. Well, anyway, it's not really a short memory issue why they don't remember Jordan, it's just a "it's been a long time" kinda issue. I guess.

Mew Sarin Alchemist: Aw, I'm sorry if you're mad about the cliffhanger in the last chapter. But it's okay now, 'cause the new chapter is here. I know Ed and Al seem a little out of it for not immediately recognizing Jordan, but you'll see. Anyway, this update's late, but do I still get a cookie? I did my best. :(

Al: Don't do it, she doesn't need any extra sugar.

AJ: Yay, I'm good at cliffies! #grin# You're welcome for the Elrics being back, by the way. Oh, and actually, I have thought about doing a sequel for this story. I've got a bunch of plans for it already. :3

EndmylifeatTwilight15: Writing as fast as I can! O.O

Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1: They have met! Yay! Take no offense when I say this, but I'm kinda glad I scared you with almost using Blade for the Gate. I was going for a sort of big reaction when I wrote that. XD

Envy: Wow, you're about as evil as the rest of us.

Holy hell, where did you come from?! Get out, get out!

I love CHEESECAKE: I'll keep up my work as best I can. :)

Wandering Hitokiri: Oh, Mustang got pwned. XD Oh, the magic of insulting a pyro, huh? Anyway, I actually want that Colonel Mustang shirt, too. That's an idea. I should save up enough money to go get one specially printed. Hm. Well, anyway, those of us who make Mustang cower UNITE!

Ed: Whoo!

Wow, you cheered about something.

Cha-chan-hyper: I apologize for the last chapter being short. This one should hopefully make up for it a little bit. :3 Anyway, um, good luck with your magic powers and weird situations and whatnot.

Liah Cauthon: Aw, you got the boxed set of Naruto? No fair! T-T But, wait, HakuxZabu? Um . . . .

Ed: Aren't those two characters both _male?_

Yeah. #shudder#

Al: Brother, remember, this is why we fear certain fan fiction writers.

Well, anyway, onto other news. It's okay that you're ranting. When you're hyper, you rant, and then it just kinda happens without you knowing. Heh.

Kisa44: Yes, it was a cliffhanger. But, as long as you still liked the chapter, it's all good.

Coolkat and Roookie: It's okay if you reviewed later. There were still people who reviewed later than you did. :) I'll admit, I think having the brothers back will make things a lot more interesting. It was going kinda slow there for awhile, I think. But, anyway.

TheShadow111: Well, I'm glad you like the story. Make sure to stick around. :D

Ruroni Angel: I keep making the story better? Sweet. :3 Good think to know.

_**Syldoran is sitting, cross-legged, on the floor, watching as a yellow ball with a hamster in it zips by back and forth. Everyone else just stares.**_

**Ed: So what's so interesting about a rat in a plastic ball?**

**Syldoran: I have to watch my friend's hamster while she's on vacation. And Oreo is not a rat.  
**

**Ed: Close enough . . . .**

**Syldoran: Shut up, would you?**

**Lawyer: Sooo. . . . anybody else wanna help me plot Syl's legal downfall?**

_**Ed and Al both hurriedly agree, and the three run off. Syldoran is left to herself.**_

**Syldoran: Go Oreo, go! **

**_Sort of._**

_**After an abnormally long pause in coming back, the hamster finally rolls back toward Syldoran and away again, though this time there is a piece of paper taped to the side of the ball saying, "Syl doesn't own 'Fullmetal Alchemist,' despite what she says."**_

**Syldoran: Wait a minute, what the-**

**_A dog's barking interrupts her exclamation. A small, golden-yellow dog runs by, yipping at the hamster ball._**

**Syldoran: Ahh! Nori! No, you can't eat the hamster! **

_**And then Syl has to go chase Oreo. And the dog.**_

* * *

Before Jordan could make any move to say hello to her old friends, the colonel made an irritated coughing sound in his throat. All were forced to turn their attention back to him before he demanded it in other ways. 

"Despite how beautiful a reunion I'm sure this is, there are much more pressing matters to attend to," he said, sitting back in his chair. Ed gave him an "I have no idea what you're talking about, because I'm still half-asleep" stare, while Al and Jordan looked (supposedly) interested.

"I hope it's important," Jordan agreed, stifling a yawn behind her hand. She'd gotten almost no sleep the night before, and waking up early hadn't been her planned remedy for the situation.

"Listen up, all three of you," Mustang said, his tone suddenly demanding a sense of seriousness within his office. "Fullmetal, the reason you were brought back to Central is because we need to keep all of our certified alchemists close." Ed sat up, suddenly more interested. "There have been sightings of Scar within Central, not to mention possible chances that the homonculi are here too."

"So, when the most threat is within Central, that's where you decide to bring us," Ed admonished flatly.

"I said all of our state alchemists, Fullmetal," Roy repeated. "It's safer to know our most needed officers are close if anything should happen, rather than spread out among several cities. Of course, there are enough still at the other headquarters, but you're most needed here."

Ed looked to Jordan, who was staring blankly at the colonel through half-lidded eyes. He knew he should know her from somewhere, but for some reason he just couldn't place it.

"How many times have they been seen, Colonel?" she asked.

"Scar's only been seen a couple of times, but each of those was accompanied with the murder of another state alchemist," Mustang answered gravely.

Jordan bit her lip nervously. "And what about the homonculi?"

"Only once or twice, but we're not entirely sure about them."

The girl let out a sigh and lowered her head; as far as she saw this, it was nothing more than a further hindrance to her work. _Perfect. I guess I found that life-changing interruption I was looking for,_ she thought.

She raised her gaze and looked back to the brothers out of the corner of her vision, and caught Al's eye. She raised one eyebrow as if to ask, "Do you even remember who I am?"

Maybe it was just the nature of this look, maybe it was just a connection made with her act, or maybe it was just a sudden click of memory after several minutes, but Al suddenly remembered exactly who this girl was.

"Brother, look!" he began in a low whisper, leaning down to his older brother. "That girl, remember, that's-"

He was cut short as Mustang started talking once more. "In any case, we need all of our alchemists, particularly you two, to be on the highest alert. Being the youngest alchemists to have ever been certified, your names have been spread far and wide. They'll know exactly who to look for," he warned.

"Alas, the joys of being pressed into service," Jordan muttered, too lowly for anybody to hear. As if her necklace somehow brought about memories of this long-gone event, she curled her fingers around the silver chain about her neck and lifted the length from its hiding place underneath her shirt, revealing a slightly tarnished but otherwise perfectly recognizable dragon pendant. She purposefully let it fall onto the front of her shirt as to attract a bit of attention.

Ed noticed this strange act, and his attention was drawn to the necklace. Of all things, this triggered a sudden lapse in memory. His eyebrows shot up in surprise as he, too, remembered this seemingly long-lost friend. Jordan could barely resist a smirk as she saw the startled reaction.

Roy seemed to notice this silent exchange as well, and as much as he loved tormenting the two, he decided perhaps he should let them go soon. "Despite this, Lightning, I'll still need you to come in for your shifts. Your extra help has proven invaluable around the office."

"I suppose you're saying this because I tend to be the one to get in Hughes's way when he has pictures, right?"

"That has little to do with it," the colonel said with a light cough.

"I'm sure it doesn't."

Mustang's gaze turned to a glare. "Fullmetal, Lightning, you really must be careful from now on. Our reputation is teetering enough as it is, and the two of you seem to get in a lot of trouble for those of your size."

Jordan blew her bangs out of her eyes in a calm manner, looked off to the side, and raised her hands to cover her ears. Ed, of course, exploded in rage, leaping to his feet to yell at the top of his lungs.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL YOU COULDN'T SPY HIM WITH A MAGNIFYING GLASS?!" he shouted, attracting the attention of more than one officer who happened to pass the colonel's office at the time. By "attracting the attention," it should be defined as "a quick pause in front of the door to sate the curiosity, and then quickly walking away at twice the speed of original movement from fear."

When he was finished, he stood in the middle of the office, hands clenched into fists at his sides and chest heaving from the spastic fit. Jordan slowly lowered her hands, staring with an amused expression at the teenage blonde. As calm as she looked, it was taking all of her willpower not to burst into laughter. This was exactly how she'd remembered her old friend.

"We're going to have issues if people keep saying that," she noted lightly to the colonel with a jerk of her head toward Edward. "His shouting will bring our enemies from miles around if that keeps up."

"Hey!"

"She's got a point, Brother."

"I apologize," said Mustang, though an obvious gleam of mirth shone in his eyes and discredited any truth to his statement.

Another knock came at the door, and First Lieutenant Hawkeye entered the room holding another stack of papers. Combining that with the several pages that were scattered across his desk, it looked like Colonel Mustang had a good deal of work to do. Upon seeing the extra guests in the room, her eyes narrowed dangerously at Roy.

"It looks as if maybe we should get going," Ed said sarcastically, folding his arms over his chest in a more relaxed manner.

The Flame Alchemist dismissed them with a wave of his hand and reluctantly reached for a pen. The three excused themselves into the hallway, afraid to be in the same room as Hawkeye when she had "that" look on her face.

In a very awkward silence, the teenagers started the walk down the hall. Or, rather, Ed and Al walked in silence. Several officers knew Jordan and stopped her to say hello, or ask her a question. Finally, after several minutes, Jordan decided to say something.

"So. How long did it take the two of you to recognize me?" she asked simply. When the brothers looked at her almost questioningly, she broke into a huge grin that they could do nothing but return.

"Man, it is so great to see you guys again!" she cried, pulling Ed into a warm, but very brief, embrace. She let out a strangled "oof" as Al pulled her back to repeat the same gesture.

After they could all stop laughing (it took a minute or two, not to mention the ignoring of several disapproving stares), Jordan adjusted her glasses, wiped a tear of mirth from her eye, then asked, "Seriously though, did it really take that long to realize it was me or were you all just playing dumb? I mean, I know it's been, like, seven or eight months, but I know I'm not that hard to forget."

"You just look kinda different," Ed offered as an explanation.

"I can't look _that_ different, can I?" Jordan inquired quizzically. "I mean, I turned fourteen and I dyed two little stripes of white in my hair. Other than that, I can't really think of any real ways I look different. I've only gotten maybe a centimeter taller."

"Uhh," both the Elric brothers chorused, exchanging glances. Obviously, the girl didn't realize how different she _did _look in their eyes. Through the last several months, she'd gotten to look a lot more. . . mature. Not including height, she'd definitely "grown" in several ways, making her look considerably older than she was. Despite how loosely her clothing fit, there was a suggestion of new muscle, and the way she moved and held herself said the same. Even her eyes were different; where they used to sparkle with boundless energy and an underlying flame of determination, now showed a great deal more experience. All in all, a lot of small changes had added together to made her look a lot different.

"Neh, forget it," Jordan sighed, adjusting her glasses. "Come on, we've got some catching up to do, I think."

As they started through the main doors to the Central headquarters, she asked, "By the way, where are you guys gonna be staying?"

"No idea," Ed responded blankly.

"Of course. I just thought Colonel Mustang would've done the same for you guys as he did me, didn't he?"

"What'd he do for you?" Edward asked. "I can't imagine that morally bankrupt excuse for a colonel doing anything truly productive."

Jordan rolled her eyes. "Couple months ago, when he called me back to Central, he knew I'd need a place to stay and rented out a military apartment for me. He does it for all sorts of officers who are only going to be in town for a while. He didn't for you?"

"No."

"Wow. Well, um, I guess you could stay with me, in that case. I mean, these places are made for the officers and their families on the go," Jordan offered with a shrug. "I have a feeling you guys are going to stick around too long to really want to take up lodgings at some ramshackle excuse of an inn, anyway, so sharing an apartment with a friend seems like a much more logical option anyway. What do you say?"

Ed gave her an incredulous look. "Are you seriously offering us that?" he asked, not really disbelieving but unsure of how to answer.

"As long as you stay out of the room that I staked out as my own, I don't really care. Yes or no?"

Alphonse decided to answer. "Of course!"

"Well, great, that's settled," Jordan laughed.

"Now, to ask you something," Ed started, a mischievous glint in his amber eyes, "What kind of 'shifts' have you been working for Mustang?"

"It seems unlikely that he wouldn't have just sent you out on a regular assignment," Al chipped in.

Jordan slowly blew out a long, heavy breath. "To knock off about nine-tenths of the story, he called me back to Central a couple of months ago while I was busy with some work entirely unrelated to the military. Because he couldn't recall me contributing anything to my 'workplace' since our little fun time in Lexalin, he gave me a cushy and extremely boring job working at Central H.Q., since there were no missions or otherwise that really needed attention. So, since about the middle of August, I think, I've been just living in Central." Taking off her glasses to clean them on her shirt, she added, "It got really boring, really fast. There's no real action around here, and while I don't miss the possibility of dying, I kinda miss the old thrills."

"What was this work you were doing before then?" Ed asked.

"Oh, you're in for a bit of a story."

--------------------

"You seriously did?!"

"Yeah." Jordan tilted her head at a slight angle. "What's so surprising?"

"That you actually survived the encounter," Ed marveled.

"So, it's unbelievable that I could survive for four months with Izumi as my tutor? When the two of you survived six?" Jordan inquired. "That's a little weird if you ask me." She sat up from her sprawled position on the couch to get a clearer look at Ed, who sat on the floor a few feet away with Al. She'd made them wait until they reached the apartment to relay all of what she'd done in their absence, and now they were all ears for the story.

"Wait, four months?" Alphonse asked. "Why didn't you stay for six like we did?"

"Remember how I said Mustang decided to bring me into Central while I was in the middle of some non-military work?" When the boys nodded, she shrugged, "Well, at about four months, he sent out an officer to get me, and that officer met with Izumi first, instead of me. Needless to say, she was _not_ very pleased to find out that I was in the military. I'll just say I wasn't exactly welcome as her apprentice after that."

"She beat the crap out of you for that?" Ed asked bluntly.

"Not as bad as she did when we would spar, but yeah, I was in pain when she was finished." Jordan winced at the memories. She stood up and said, "Anyway, I'll be right back, I need to go find my bandanna. My hair's getting to be a real pain." Without waiting for an answer, she darted upstairs.

When she came back down a minute or so later, carrying her bandanna in one hand and a hair tie in the other and her hair down, she was met with very surprised looks from the two Elric brothers.

"Uh, what?" she asked as she sat down again, almost afraid of the answer.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day you'd have short hair," Ed answered.

"Same here," Al agreed.

"Um, okay, I thought you'd noticed before," the fourteen-year-old girl mused as she pulled her hair into a ponytail and tied her bandanna.

"You had that weird clip, we couldn't tell," Al offered as an answer.

"Oh, yeah, that clip I bought for my uniform. The first thing I found when I got out of the shower this morning, since Mustang wanted me there _right then._"

The next surprise for the two brothers came when a black cat, with a white stripe splashed on its chest, sauntered in from the kitchen and casually jumped up onto Jordan's lap. Jordan laughed and scratched behind the cat's ears, making it purr.

"There you are, Blade! Being anti-social today, huh?" she asked.

"You are fully aware you are talking to a _cat,_ right?" Ed asked incredulously.

"Um, yeah, I think I am. He's only been around since, ya know, March or April," Jordan responded sarcastically.

Al giggled. "Where did you find him?"

Jordan picked Blade up off her lap and set him down on the floor, watching fondly as he began cautiously picking his way toward Alphonse. "I found him as a kitten here in Central a while back. I stopped to pet him, but when I got up to go again, a bunch of things fell out of my backpack. My best guess is he crawled into my bag while I was looking around for everything that spilled, 'cause when I got back to the inn, I found him in my backpack. Since I couldn't just leave him, I decided to take care of him. End of story, really."

Al gently stroked Blade's head, making him purr loudly. "He's really friendly," he noted.

"Neh, he's a spoiled little brat."

Blade decided to go investigate the other new stranger in the room, none other than Edward. Despite the daggers the alchemist glared, Blade fearlessly approached, still purring gently. Jordan and Al simply watched, though Jordan was ready to spring to her pet's rescue if Ed should try anything.

When Blade licked Ed's gloved hand, he was roughly hoisted up by the scruff of his neck and dropped a foot away.

"Just keep that rat away from me," Edward said plainly.

"Ed!" Jordan exclaimed. "Jeez, you don't have to be that rude. It's not like Blade bit you!"

"You know I'm not overly fond of animals," came the disgruntled response.

"Brother!"

Jordan just stuck her tongue out at the older of the two as Blade leaped back onto her lap, flattening his ears at the experience he'd just had. "Well, you don't have to stay here. You're all free to leave and stay somewhere else. But Blade's not going anywhere."

Ed sighed. It was a war he wasn't going to win anytime soon, and it was only the first of many he knew were to follow. Still, he couldn't help admitting, it was good to see his old friend again, however irritating her sense of logic was.

Jordan took his sigh as a resignation. "Well, good. Anyway, you guys haven't told me about what you've all done since we last saw each other. I've got nothing else, what about you? Come any closer to finding that Philosopher's Stone yet?"

Alphonse shook his head. "Not yet. We've hit another dead end or two, but nothing more than that."

Jordan hummed thoughtfully. "I wish I could help you guys out, but I don't know anything about it either. Or, at least, not anything you don't already know yourselves."

With a shake of his head, Ed told her, "Don't worry about it. We don't want to get you involved in it anyway."

Glaring, Jordan replied, "Well, whether you want me to or not is different from whether I want to or not. If I can ever do anything to help you get to the Philosopher's Stone, _tell _me. You know I don't want to just stand by and do nothing."

When Ed opened his mouth to protest, she cut him off. "And don't try to tell me it's too dangerous. By now I think you know that I'm not frightened that easily, and I can take care of myself. 'Danger' is hardly anything new to me anymore."

The two brothers glanced at each other. Yeah, this was definitely the same girl they remembered.

Jordan glanced at the clock. It was only a little bit past ten-thirty. They still had most of the day to kill. Luckily, it looked like entertainment was about to present itself.

"Hey, Jordan, if you've really been training with Izumi," Ed began, "then I bet you're actually worth sparring."

"When wasn't I?" Jordan asked in a smooth, dangerous voice.

"I just wanna see if you've actually improved at all since the last time we had a chance to spar," he said challengingly.

"Oh, you mean you want to see how badly I can kick your ass again," Jordan concluded.

"You never did!" Ed protested hotly.

"Oh yes I did, and I can do it again!" Jordan pushed Blade aside gently and jumped to her feet. There was that familiar glimmer of an anticipating challenge in her eyes, and she was more than ready. "I'll prove it to you now!"

Both ready to prove their worth, they bolted for the front door and out front. Al, not wanting to miss a moment of the match himself, was right behind them as they ran out, laughing and still yelling taunts at one another.

* * *

_Phew! Finally got it done! Again, sorry for the delay. Between being grounded and being the ADHD poster child (a.k.a., being easily distracted), I just kinda went "bleh" on my writing. Anyway, remember to review!_


	29. A Warning From More Than One

_Whoo, I'm alive. ;3 The heat here says otherwise, however. Seriously. I finally feel like getting off my lazy butt to go exercise, biking and whatnot, then- BOOM! It's over a hundred degrees every day. So much for my weight loss idea. XD  
_

Pink-kiss-candy: You fell behind? Huh, thought I was missing one of my reviewers lately. :P Anyway, this isn't really following the anime, to tell the truth. I thought about it, but no. And no, I don't think Envy ever actually died . . . he was transmuted or something, and wound up being in the other world, I don't remember. #hasn't bought the movie yet# Heh.

Your favorite plushie: So THAT'S what Royai Day is . . . neat. I'd agree with that holiday whole-heartedly. Oh, and um, if you're going to wave a flag for Jordan, you might wanna do it discreetly, 'cause-

Ed: Traitor.

That's why.

Celedeen Tachibana: #is glomped# I feel loved. X)

Kagami no Renkinjutsushi: I'm happy Jordan's back with the Elric brothers too. Makes writing so much more interesting. O.O You know, I kind of like Ed's reaction to Blade, too. I don't know why, it's not just because I wrote it. I just do.

Ed: God help you if that cat comes near me . . .

Don't even try and screw with the author. Especially when she's atheist and not concerned in the slightest about "God."

Al: You know he doesn't mean it . . . right Brother?

Nakori Elvenborn: Uh, sneaking up on him might not be such a good idea-

Ed: #struggles free and runs# Damn you all, fangirls!

Great. I lost my review buddy. Ah well, I've still got Al. Glad you liked the chapter, here's the next. (Aw, you have an Ed cosplay costume? I want one. But, alas, I am poor. Must wait until I've earned another bajillion dollars working for my dad.)

Diamond Moonlight: Waiting for the chapter was hard or waiting for the brothers to return was hard? #wink# Ah well, glad you found it worth the wait, whatever the circumstances.

Mustangfan29: How DARE you be a Mustang fan within my story limits!

Mustang: Hey, what's wrong with that?

Everything.

Al: But-

Don't contradict me! . . . ah, that's okay, actually. I don't mind. I'm just a proud Risembool Ranger, and therefore a sworn enemy of the Miniskirt Army and Mustang. ;) But enough of that, let's get onto a subject that makes sense. I'm glad you're so sticky to my story; I always love to see people come along later and enjoy my writing, saying they're impatient for my updates and such. :3 Yays. Well, anyway, as for who will win the sparring match . . . guess you'll see the outcome if you scroll down a little bit, huh?

Kamisori Kaze no Renkinjutsu: Well, I'm not surprised if Ed made you look like a genius; he may be an alchemy prodigy but he's never been well known for his intelligence otherwise. :3

Liah Cauthon: Hm, well, if you like that pairing then I guess I can't say anything. #shrugs#

Al: #whimpers#

Uh, Al? Come on buddy, suck it up. Well, anyway, you're lucky to have those things. I want, but I am poor. Ah well, I'll survive. Happy to hear you liked the chapter.

Moonlight Hitokiri: Hm, yeah, sometimes multi-tasking isn't always the best solution. :S Glad you liked Ed's reaction to Blade; that's kind of how my dad reacts to my dog. Just like your cat, my dog never learns. #sighs# Oh well. Here's to hoping our pets don't die at the hands of our fathers.

Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1: Here's the next update. Oh, and cheers to being ADHD poster children!

Wandering Hitokiri: You know, it really is a pleasing sight to see Ed get his butt kicked now and then. Or, at least, at the hands of characters that aren't actually going to kill him. Heh.

Al: You act so supportive of Brother one minute and then turn on him the next . . . .

That's how I roll, buddy, that's how I roll.

Death Butterfly Alchemist: I am very glad to hear you love my story so much. It's always a great thing to hear. Plus, it's cool that you like my little disclaimer stories so much, too. I like writing them; they're such a great way to get the point across with a little light-hearted twist before the story. Just, er, don't hurt yourself laughing too hard, okay:P Also, thanks for the happy birthday, even if it's a bit late. It still makes me feel loved.

Dancing Nightmare: Aw, you got to go to Sicily? No fair! I wanna go! X3 Hm. Well, anyway, onto other subjects. Ed's reaction to Blade seems to be like several people's, my dad is like that with my dog, sadly. And yeah, I know that the brothers' lack of memory to Jordan is odd, but that's how it is. And shall remain. Ha. Oh, yeah. #also shakes her fist in the air# I damn you as well, Mustang!

Mustang: Why does it have to be me? Aren't the homonculi more worth cursing?

Sure, but they aren't as fun to curse.

Coolkat and Roookie: Things definitely _will_ be more interesting with the Elrics around again. It will be so much better to write, too, not just for you all to read. Glad to hear my updates are so uplifting, too. Hee hee.

Cha-chan-hyper: Oh, I forgot your birthday? Silly me. Happy (late) birthday! #gives you a bunch of anime-related stuff, and I think there's a cake in there somewhere# And yay, I get late birthday gifts, although intangible! XD

Tweenkle: Glad to know you like my story. I'll tell ya know, it's been doing a lot better than I ever thought it would, going on almost thirty chapters. O.O Anyway, stick around and make sure to sleep. I've learned that the hard way. (As of right now, I should be sleeping.)

Chik-A-Doom: Good you hear you love my story so much. :3 I love hearing this from people. I'm glad to hear you like my character so much, too; putting myself in the story definitely eradicates any possibility of her being a total Mary-Sue.

**Syl: Power outage! Nooooes!**

_**The power's out. Obviously. And Syldoran is steadily going crazy.**_

_**We know this because she is currently running back and forth, screaming.**_

**Ed: #watches Syl run back and forth# You can stop at any time now. **

**Syl: #stops abruptly, squinting through the darkness to see Ed# Yeah. **

**Ed: The power'll come back on eventually, you know.**

**Syl: But I don't have anything to do! My T.V. and game systems are all down! And so is the computer! And I've read all my worthwhile books! **

**_She starts running around yelling again. In the process, she slams into a closet door that she didn't see, which bursts open and a bunch of signs and papers come tumbling out over her._**

**Syl: When did we get all this?**

**Ed: #sweatdrops# Uh, it's nothing . . . .**

**Syl: #pops out of the pile and holds up a sign that says "Syl own nothing of "Fullmetal Alchemist"# Hey! You've been plotting against me!**

**Ed: It's not just me! It's Al and that stupid lawyer guy too!**

**Syl: I thought you were my friend! #bursts out crying#**

**Ed: Uh . . . **

**Syl: #stops# Yeah okay, I'm done. I'll figure out what to do with you later. **

**Ed: Eep. O.O**

* * *

_**Thud!**_

"Oh, ow, rock in my back! Extreme pain . . . ."

"You're not so hurt that you're going to give up now, are you?"

"No, of course not, as long as that rock didn't just shatter one of the vertebrae in my spine and embed itself there." Jordan stood up gingerly, wincing at the fresh bruise that was going to form on her back (luckily the rock wasn't sharp), then had to duck down again immediately after as Ed aimed a blow to clip her shoulder.

A wild light in her eyes, she smirked and danced around behind him saying, "Oh, I see how it is, pretend to be sympathetic just to try and knock me on my butt again!"

"If it works I'll keep doing it!" Ed responded, whipping around to face his adversary.

"Pff, as if," Jordan scoffed as she neatly side-stepped another blow. She grabbed his arm and placed her free hand in the middle of his back and pushed him forward, using the momentum of his own movement to her advantage. Edward tumbled to the ground but leaped to his feet again.

"You've definitely improved," he noted lightly.

"Thanks, you haven't," Jordan replied smugly, setting off the teenager in front of her again. She winced as his auto-mail hand collided with her forearm; yet another bruise she was going to have by the time this was over.

She knew she'd made a mistake when she tried to step back in an attempt for better footing. Her foot twisted ever slightly and she was thrown just a little off-balance, which was all the perfect opportunity for Ed. He jumped forward and gave her a slight push to the shoulder, forcing her to fall to the ground (very ungracefully) on her front. Before she could get up Edward firmly planted a boot in the middle of her back, holding her down.

Jordan swore colorfully under her breath as Ed said, "So, what's this about being able to kick my ass again?"

"Alright, fine, I'll admit you got me there," she finally admitted after several seconds. For another moment she was silent, then suddenly she twisted out from under Ed's foot, grabbed his ankle, and pulled him down, fluidly rolling out of the way as the blonde alchemist fell to the grass with a loud thud.

However, she wasn't finished with just pulling him down. After a couple more seconds Jordan had him fully pinned to the ground, entirely helpless; she was knelt down with one knee in the middle of his back, the other pinning down one leg, her left hand holding down his other leg and her free right hand locking down his auto-mail arm.

"Now what were you saying about me _not_ being able to kick your ass again?" she asked sweetly.

"Shut the hell up," Ed muttered, his voice muffled by the fact he was face-down in the grass.

"Aw, a little mad that you got beaten by a girl again, Edward?" Jordan teased in the same sugary voice, still not getting up.

"That was great, Jordan!" Al complimented, standing up from his point on the sideline. "You really have gotten better. Training with our old teacher really did a lot."

Jordan shrugged. "I guess so, huh?" Looking down at Ed, she added, "I guess we should give it up now. You mentioned earlier Winry had given you a lovely bruise on your head for not keeping your auto-mail in the perfect condition, and ruining it again so soon wouldn't be such a great idea." She tapped one finger against his metal arm before slowly standing up and helping him to his feet.

"Out of curiosity, anybody seen my glasses? They fell off in the first ten minutes of sparring or so and I have no idea where they went," Jordan asked.

"They're right here," Al said, holding out his gauntleted hand where Jordan's glasses rested. She gratefully took them from him and jammed them ungracefully on her nose, then wiped a small bead of sweat away before it could run into her eye.

"Thanks Al," she said. "Now, onto another matter: I call the first shower!" Without any forward warning she darted with newfound adrenaline into the apartment.

Startled by her sudden movement, Ed was a tad slow on the draw to run after her with protesting shouts of "Hey, that's not fair!"

"Life's not fair and the fast ones are the ones who get the rewards, Edward! That's roughly how it all works so you'd better get used to it!" Jordan called over her shoulder. "Better learn to be fast, friend, or else you'll never be first!"

Unfortunately, Ed wasn't fast enough in this case, and by the time he'd figured out exactly where Jordan had gone (she'd bolted into the bathroom connected to her bedroom upstairs) she'd already gotten into the shower; he had no choice but to wait now.

Ed was left to glare at her bedroom door for several moments before deciding that this would accomplish nothing, and stalked off into the living room to wait with Al. Luckily it was only about seven minutes of time that had to pass before Jordan came out of the bathroom and into the living room as well, hair hanging in limp locks and dripping occasionally onto the shoulders of a clean gray t-shirt.

"Your turn," she said pleasantly as she hooked her thumbs in the pockets of her sweatpants. "You're lucky I only take five minutes, unlike a great many other girls. It'd be a virtual hell living with me otherwise."

The fifteen-year-old stood up and remarked as he turned to leave, "I have a feeling it already will be."

"Good, I wouldn't have it any other way," Jordan responded cheerily as she went into the kitchen. Ed watched her disappear from sight and couldn't help but smile. She definitely hadn't changed too much since they'd last seen each other.

"Because that means," she added, "you are definitely on your own when it comes to feeding yourself and I don't have to worry about a thing, just so I can make it more of a hell."

Ed rolled his eyes.

--------------------

"Brother, I don't think you can just lie there all morning."

"Sure I can, Al. It's very simple."

"Yes, but I know Jordan's probably not going to be willing to bring you your meals, especially since she didn't even want to cook for you last night. Among other things that you'll have to do by getting up."

Ed's stomach grumbled loudly. He moaned when he realized his younger brother was right, despite how much he wished it weren't so. His entire body felt sore after his sparring match with Jordan the day before. Every muscle protested against movement, and all he'd done so far was throw the blanket off and shift to lay on his back.

"Ah, come on Al, I don't wanna get up," he complained.

"Sheesh Ed, you're so lazy sometimes," Alphonse sighed from his spot leaning against the wall by the door.

A gentle clattering downstairs caught the attention of the two boys. Edward lost all urge to bicker when an appetizing smell drifted to his nose. "Hey, what's that?" He asked in confusion.

"Jordan must be downstairs," Al answered.

"Cooking?"

"Probably."

" . . . I didn't know she could do that."

Al sighed again.

Wincing slightly at the pain in his muscles, Ed reluctantly got up and properly dressed, then began making his way downstairs, Al following shortly behind. Before they actually got into the kitchen, they saw Jordan, dressed in the same around-the-house clothing she'd gone to bed in, working over the stove. Ed raised an eyebrow when he realized that it was Jordan who had been cooking.

She turned around to see the two brothers as they entered the kitchen. "Hey, mornin' guys," she said cheerily.

"Good morning," Al replied. Jordan smiled and returned to what she was doing.

Ed sneaked up behind her and looked over her shoulder at what she was cooking; currently nothing more than a pan of scrambled eggs was on the stove top. Jordan let this go on for about ten seconds before finally asking, "Is there something I can help you with, Ed?"

"I wasn't aware you could cook," he said bluntly, staring suspiciously at the pan of cooking eggs.

Jordan rolled her eyes and waved the spatula she was holding at him to make him back off. "So I suppose I have an invisible maid here who's been cooking and cleaning for me these last two months?" she asked sarcastically.

"That seems the more likely explanation," Ed replied. Jordan's response came in the form of a smack to the back of the head.

"I guess you _don't_ want to be fed then, huh?" she asked. "I can easily stop what I'm doing right now and leave you hungry. I mean, I just thought I'd be _nice_ and give you a decent meal, since I'm sure you haven't had a home-cooked meal in a long time."

Ed's stomach growled again, answering for him.

"I thought so," Jordan laughed.

Ed grinned widely and chuckled. "I guess I have no choice but to give you a chance, huh?" he laughed, clapping a hand jokingly on Jordan's shoulder. She immediately froze and let out a whimper.

"Whoa, Jordan, are you all right?" Al asked, concerned.

"Don't touch me," Jordan whispered.

Ed slowly lifted his hand from her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Everything hurts after that sparring match yesterday," she answered with a shake of her head. "I've got bruises all over, not to mention every muscle in itself makes me feel like I went through maximum weight training or something. I'll be fine, but just don't touch me."

The blonde couldn't help but nod in agreement. "Yeah, I know that feeling," he agreed.

"Yeah, but you don't have to deal with it as much as I do," Jordan replied enviously.

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"You've got two limbs made of steel. I don't. Therefore, I have more to feel pain, no offense meant." Jordan poked absently at the scrambled eggs with the tip of her spatula. "I just hope that I won't be in such severe pain that work tomorrow is going to be hell."

Al cocked his helmeted head in confusion. "I thought all you did was work around the headquarters. That shouldn't be too bad, should it?"

"Under normal circumstances it's pretty easy. But when everything hurts, reaching to the highest shelf in the library's bookcase or running through the hallways to catch somebody will righteously _suck._"

Ed snapped his fingers. "Speaking of the library, that's where Al and I were going to head today," he said.

"Oh, perfect, I was gonna go there too," Jordan said. "Guess it's an all-around trip."

"Hey, you can just worry about finishing what you're doing," Ed told her.

Jordan thwacked him on the back of his head again. "Shut up. Breakfast is practically done anyway. Go sit down and stop bothering me and you might get to eat."

Sticking his tongue out at Jordan when her back was turned, Ed did as he was told, sitting down in a wooden chair at the table in the dining room with Al. Not four minutes later, Jordan came out of the kitchen bearing a plate of food and a mug, both of which she set down in front of Ed.

"So," she began, "French toast, bacon, eggs made decently, and a mug of hot chocolate. Stuff that I haven't eaten nor made in a long time. Tell me how you like it, alright?" She returned to the kitchen to retrieve her own breakfast, then sat down at the table next to Al, opposite Ed.

A few minutes later, when they were both finished, Edward just had to ask, "Okay, so where in the world did you learn to cook like that?"

"Home," Jordan answered, draining the last of her cup of hot chocolate. "I started wanting to cook in the kitchen when I was eight, and being a part of a family of five, a lot of opportunity to hone my skills came up. Mom was sometimes too tired to make dinner, Dad's only use in cooking was grilling outdoors, and there was no way my siblings were going to touch an oven. Wasn't long before I became a regular chef, though I'm not anything really special." She smirked and added, "So I take it you enjoyed your meal?"

Ed nodded, a pleased smile on his face. Jordan laughed.

"I guess that means I can do this more often," she noted, slipping a small shred of bacon down to Blade under the table (who'd been mewing intolerably throughout the course of the meal in the hopes of getting scraps).

"Please do," the older boy said.

Jordan's smirk grew wider. "I guess I can let you in on another secret of mine," she said slyly. Ed gave her a suspicious look.

"You didn't spike my food with anything, did you?" he asked.

"No. It's just that everything except the bacon had at least some milk in it," she said. "And yes, that includes the hot chocolate. About half of that is milk, actually."

Al snickered. Ed, who had just lifted his cup to finish off his hot chocolate, gave Jordan a look over the top of the mug that clearly stated, "I don't like you."

"And yes, I know you don't like me, so stop giving me that look. You just said yourself, you liked my cooking and you want me to keep it up," Jordan said, seeing his expression. Putting a Southern country drawl into her voice, she added, "And darling, just about everythin' I cook has a least a little milk in it, so you'd best shape up and get used to it."

Putting down his cup and leaning back in his chair, Ed admitted, "Well, I guess I was wrong. Milk is good in some things other than stew, huh?"

"I really wish I could have gotten that on a recording," Jordan said with a disappointed look.

"Don't even think about it."

"Well, anyway, if you enjoy my cooking so much and you want me to keep you fed," Jordan picked up her plate and set her fork and cup on it, "then I guess you won't mind doing the dishes today, huh?" She set her loaded plate on top of Ed's and winked.

Al glanced at a clock hanging on the wall. "We should probably get going soon, if we were going to spend the day in the library," he said. "It's already ten o' clock."

"Yeah, we should go," Ed agreed, standing up.

"All right, just give me a sec," Jordan said before going upstairs to dress. She was back down in about a minute, pulling a hooded gray sweatshirt over her head and tucking a small black book into the large pocket over the stomach, along with a quill and a bottle of ink. Blade followed behind her, meowing merrily at the thought of getting to go somewhere.

"Ah, sorry buddy, you'll have to stay behind today," she said sweetly, kneeling down and patting her faithful companion on the head. "You know the librarians are afraid you'd shed into their books, Blade, and I can't have that." As if in protest, Blade swatted a paw at the chain to her pocket watch hanging from the pocket of her jeans.

"I seriously don't understand you in the slightest," Ed sighed.

"Me or the cat?"

"Both."

--------------------

"Wow, I'm surprised you guys haven't found what you're looking for yet, if you go through this many books," Jordan mused, one eyebrow half-raised as she looked at the dozen or more books that were piled on the wooden library table. The unfortunate table looked as if were to collapse in at any given moment.

"Well, every book we find usually only mentions the Philosopher's Stone once or twice, and it usually doesn't have any information we don't already know," Alphonse replied.

"I'll bet. Just make sure you put them back where you found them, or I have to do it tomorrow."

Ed looked over at her corner of the table; it, too, was cluttered with several alchemy books, not to mention her own black book, and her quill and ink. "What are you researching that takes so many books, then?" he asked.

"Oh, just something," she responded airily as she pushed her glasses farther up her nose and flicked the cover closed to the volume she was currently poring over. With a heavy breath, she picked up her quill, dipped it into her ink bottle, and began doodling on the inside of the back cover to her journal.

Al picked up a piece of paper she'd been writing on. "The Gate?" he asked, reading the scribbled notes. "You're researching the Gate?"

"Wh-what's it to you?" Jordan demanded, snatching the paper out of his hand and slipping it into a random spot in her journal. She slammed it closed before she even realized that the ink to her drawing was still wet.

"Jordan, you don't have to be so uptight about it, Al was just asking," Ed told her, looking a little angry that she'd been so fast to yell at his brother.

Shamefaced, the fourteen-year-old looked down at her book. "Sorry Al," she apologized. "I didn't mean to snip at you like that."

"It's okay, but why be so secretive?" Al asked. "It just looks like regular research to me."

With a shrug, the girl answered, "I don't know. You know me, really secretive about my work." She lifted the back cover of her journal and winced at the smeared black lines that used to be a manga doodle of herself.

"Why are you so interested in the Gate, anyway?" Ed asked, glancing up from the book he was skimming.

"Well, I only ran across a few mentions of it in my original research," Jordan explained, "and I wanted to learn more about it, so I took up researching it when I wasn't busy. I have a lot of free time on my hands on my weekends."

"But why so many notes, if you're just trying to learn about it?" Al asked.

"Jeez, why carry so much interest in what I'm doing?" Jordan snapped. "I'm doing some stupid research on the Gate, that's all!"

Edward gave her a long look. "Just don't try anything stupid with it," he said quietly.

"Ed, what in the world are you talking about?" Jordan asked with a nervous laugh. "It's harmless research."

"Whatever you're reading, whatever it tells you, don't try to mess with something you can't control," Ed said seriously. "Maybe you are just curious, but don't try to play with it. Nobody knows much about the Gate, but we know now, it's dangerous. Don't try to do anything."

"Brother's right. It's not something to trifle with," Al put in.

Jordan smiled warmly. "Guys, you know me. Why are you so worried? I wouldn't dare try anything _just _because I happened to read it in a book."

"We're just concerned," said Al.

"We don't want anybody else making the same mistakes that we did," Ed said lowly.

Shaking her head, Jordan let out a little laugh. "Don't worry you guys. I'm not about to try anything like this anytime soon," she assured them. She suddenly froze, hearing a familiar man's voice drifting down the hall, sounding like it was coming toward the library. She could swear she heard the words "cute" and "adorable" used. "And hey, um, I will be right back!" she exclaimed, leaping out of her seat. She gathered an armful of books and darted off into the labyrinth of bookshelves.

"What's her problem?" Ed asked as she bolted away. Al shrugged, his metal armor clacking as a result of the action.

"Edward! I didn't know you'd be in Central!"

Ed froze.

"Lieutenant Colonel! It's great to see you again!" Al greeted Hughes as he walked into the library. Ed added his own greeting shortly after; though it didn't sound quite as cheerful.

Maes came up to their table and slammed a hand down on the wooden surface, leaning on it for support. "The two of you should have told me you'd be coming to Central today!"

"The colonel called Brother back to Central yesterday, so we'll be here for at least a little while," Al explained.

"Yeah, I heard that several of our alchemists were called to Central due to the sightings of Scar and some other guys that were potentially dangerous," Hughes agreed. "Investigation department's working on it overtime, but we still haven't found much yet." He glanced down at the table. "Doing some more research, huh?"

"Not much luck, but yes," Ed responded, flipping another page in his book.

Looking down at the quill and black book Jordan had left behind in her mad dash, Hughes noted, "These look like they belong to Jordan. Was she here?"

"A minute ago. She ran off to do something," Al told him.

"So I take it you guys finally got to meet up with her again? She told me you all were pretty good friends."

Edward smiled. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. We're staying with her until Colonel Mustang says we're actually allowed to leave Central."

A mischievous glint entered Hughes's eye. "Really?" He leaned in closer toward Ed. "You know, she's a real keeper, you shouldn't let her keep getting away from you like she does," he said.

The blonde alchemist blushed and jumped to his feet. "What in the world are you talking about?" he yelled. "Jordan's nothing more than a friend!" He tried to ignore the fact that Al was laughing his head off next to him.

"Whatever you say Edward, but I'm just saying, she's a real cutie, and you should do something before some other young man decides to sweep her off her feet," Hughes said innocently, though his grin was hardly convincing. Ed crossed his arms and turned away, his face an interesting shade of red.

"But of course, she couldn't _possibly_ be cuter than my darling little Elysia," Hughes said dotingly, pulling a handful of pictures from his pocket. Al and Ed exchanged glances of terror.

--------------------

Jordan snickered from her spot behind a bookshelf; her attempt at shaking off Hughes and leaving him with the Elric brothers had been successful. Stifling another giggle behind her hand, she hefted her armful of books up and sauntered off toward another bookcase. She might as well put away all these books and get some new ones while she was up.

The conversation between Hughes and the brothers faded away as she moved farther from them. Jordan wished she could remember exactly where she had gotten the volumes from, and cursed her lack of short term memory as she searched.

"Dang, I wish it wasn't so hard to remember where these stupid things went," Jordan complained under her breath.

"Do you need some help?" a man behind her offered, making Jordan jump.

"Oh, uh, no thanks," she said, turning to face the person who'd been so kind to offer to help. "I'll get it eventu-"

In surprise at seeing who she was addressing, she dropped her books to the floor. As they clattered to the ground and the thuds echoed back at her off of the rows of bookcases, Jordan was suddenly reminded of just how empty the library usually was.

Envy looked down at the dropped books as if he were disappointed. "Aw, now you're not that upset to see me, are you?" he asked.

"H-how did you get in here?" Jordan demanded, horrified. "Only military personnel can get into the Central headquarters without an escort!"

With a sigh and a look as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, Envy stepped back from the teenager. A flash of light crossed his body, and then in his place stood a black-haired man, in full military dress. "It's very easy to deceive the eye," he said before changing back.

"What do you want?" Jordan asked coldly. She briefly considered calling for the aid of the Elric brothers, but quickly decided against it; if she tried anything like that, Envy could very well kill her before the boys even realized she was in trouble.

"Just to talk to you," Envy said smoothly, leaning in uncomfortably close.

"I don't have anything for you," Jordan spat, taking a step back.

"Oh, but you do," said the homonculus.

"And what would that be?" The girl threw out her hand to push Envy back, but he caught her by the wrist.

"I know you seem to be taking a healthy interest in the Gate," he said, cocking an eyebrow and grinning evilly.

"My research has nothing to do with you or anything you'd want!" Jordan tried to clap her free hand to the one Envy held, but he grabbed her other wrist as well.

He leaned in closer to the helpless teen, until she could feel the warmth of his breath against her face. He stomped his foot down on Jordan's, preventing her from backing any farther up. "I still haven't quite forgiven you for what you did at Lexalin," he hissed.

"That's just too bad, that was so long ago that I lost any remorse I could have possibly had," Jordan said rudely. She tried to twist her hands from Envy's grip, but she was entirely unsuccessful; he just tightened his hold on her.

"What you're researching is closely connected to my pursuit of the Philosopher's Stone," he said coolly. "In fact, there may be some way to create the Stone from what you know."

"Nothing I know has to do with the Stone. It is not of my concern, nor is it anything I know anything of," Jordan responded calmly. "I don't care for it and have no reason to."

"You underestimate what you know," Envy said, his grin growing wider. "You'd be smart to tell me what you do. You hang around the Fullmetal Pipsqueak and his tin can of a brother enough, surely you've picked something up from the two of them."

"Not a thing."

"You should find out," Envy advised, still refusing to let her go. "It'd be good for you."

"You mean it'd be good for you," Jordan retorted.

Envy tightened his grip until Jordan's wrists began to ache. "How about both of us, huh? And your friends, it might be good for them. See, this is just a warning. You'd better keep an eye out for yourself, and so should they. I'm not afraid to kill you, or those two boys."

"Leave them alone," Jordan demanded.

"I'll be happy to, if you learn how to respect those with more power than you," Envy said coldly.

"I sure hope you're not talking about yourself, because that would be a gross overstatement."

The homonculus shoved Jordan away as if he were disgusted. "Keep this in mind. I'm not afraid to do whatever it takes to wheedle some information out of you," he warned, before turning and disappearing among the bookshelves.

Trying to pretend nothing had happened, Jordan picked up the books he'd dropped earlier, and quickly went about her business of putting them away, thinking about the threat Envy had just left with her. Of course, she'd have to tell Ed and Al. They'd be in as much trouble as she was.

--------------------

Ed just happened to be looking over his shoulder, already tired of seeing so many of Hughes's pictures, and he saw Jordan come running out from behind a bookcase. "Hey, Jordan's come back!" he exclaimed. Hughes and Al looked up.

Jordan skidded to a halt in front of her things. "Afternoon Lieutenant," she said to Hughes, hardly looking at him as she began screwing the top onto her bottle of ink

"Something happen, Jordan?" Al asked as she continued to throw her things into the pocket of her sweatshirt.

"I just found Envy," she responded curtly. When Hughes started, she interrupted him. "And he's long gone already, running after him would be pointless."

She quickly relayed her story to the three, and by the time she was finished, they were all wearing grim faces. "The three of you'd better keep an eye out," Hughes advised them. "He sounded like he was pretty serious." They all nodded and stood to leave.

"On a lighter note, Edward," Hughes said to the blonde as Al and Jordan went on ahead, "you really could use a girlfriend, with all this you go through. Keep in mind what I said about that young lady-"

"Will you quit talking like that?" Ed shouted, whipping around to face the older man.

"Ed, get a move on!" Jordan called.

Hughes smiled innocently as Edward glared at him over his shoulder, following Jordan and his younger brother out.

"What was that all about?" Jordan asked when he'd caught up.

"Don't ask."

"Alrighty."

* * *

_Well, there you go. I must admit, this turned out way longer than I thought it would. _O.o _All the better for you, though, right? _:3 _Remember to review!_


	30. From Blushing to Fighting

_Sorry this one took awhile; I underestimated how long I waited before starting to write this chapter. On to reviews!_

_Oh, wait. I have an important announcement at the end of the chapter, so make sure to read it!_

_Okay, NOW on to reviews!_

Celedeen Tachibana: Wow, you said "awesome" eight times in a row. Very nice, and thank you; it makes me feel appreciated.

Your favorite plushie: Unfortunately, Envy's back. Doom has been spelled out for our favorite heroes and heroine. But, Hughes makes it all better. X3

Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1: OMFG I KNOW YOU FROM THE RANGER PLACE!!1!!11

I'm sorry. #COUGH# It was a stunning realization when I made the connection, though. I ish lame.

Anyway, yep, I shoved milk down Ed's throat and he didn't even know it. Bwa ha ha . . . .

Ed: You realize how much I hate you for that?

Yeah.

A Falling Angel: I'm kind of happy I surprised you with Envy. I like surprising people. :3 Other than that, glad ya like it.

Coolkat and Roookie: Envy has struck again! He's a pain like that.

Envy: Shut up, will you?

How in the world do you keep getting in here? Pff. Anyway, yay, new reader! Hello new reader Kaida! #waves#

Kagami no Renkinjutsushi: You're happy to see Envy? Interesting. Well, either way, glad you're happy with the story. e.e

Cha-chan-hyper: Eh heh . . . you won't really be that disappointed in me, will you? 'Cause I was beginning to steer the story in that direction . . . . Not like that'll be the main focus of the story or anything.

Khait Khepri: You know, I've had a lot of people say they're glad Jordan isn't Mary-Sue-ish. Which is good. I hate Mary-Sues as well. People with flaws for the win! X3

Ed: I have this feeling that you're just a little too flawed, though.

#gasp# You're so mean.

Mustangfan29: Yeah, I couldn't possibly hate you for being a Mustang fan. I'm just weird. :3 Well, anyway, I guess you're right; it was sort of a win-win situation with the sparring match. And it was sad when Hughes died. Glad I didn't have it happen. T-T

Lee Totema: Yeah, I love Hughes too. It is really sad he died. #tear#

Kamisori Kaze no Renkinjutsu: Yeah, they do spend too much time in the library. I might go nuts too. X3 But, uh, good luck with Ikari there.

Kisa44: You fell behind? Aw. Well, you caught up again, so it's okay. :) Yay chapter longness!

Ed: That's only good for you. Prolongs the torture.

Shut up Ed.

Al: Brother, be nice!

Liah Cauthon: Glad you liked the chapter. :) I can't wait to see the art, whenever you get it uploaded.

Ruroni Angel: Holy crud, our scenes were the same. O.o I didn't even notice until you mentioned it, actually. Guess it subconsciously stuck in my head. Weird. Anyway, yes, I think your character should meet up with the Seven Sins eventually. :3 I've been reading your story, bear no doubts. I just have a bad habit about reviewing. XD And he should fear my wrath more. :3 Oh, hear that Ed? Even Ruroni thinks you should fear my wrath!

Ed: Shut up.

Chik-A-Doom: Woo-hoo, new story follower for sure! I'm so happy. :') Anyway. You're on winter holidays? Nice. I'm on summer holidays here.

Ed: You are oddly fascinated by such strange things.

Wandering Hitokiri: Eh heh . . . guess Envy's going to have one heck of a time coming back from that charring.

Envy: Mmph!

Ed: I dunno, I kind of like him this way. #grins#

So do I. Well, anyway, glad you liked the chapter. Woot and stuffs.

Diamond Moonlight: Thank you. :3

_**We have no real reason why, but Syldoran is sitting on the couch, clutching a book to her chest, and staring at the wall. Ed, Al, and the lawyer all look at her strangely for several seconds before they finally have to know what she's doing.**_

**Ed: Um, okay, what are you doing?**

**Syldoran: #eye twitches# Just . . . finished . . . Harry Potter . . . .**

**Ed: You finished it the day you got it, which was on the day it came out.  
**

**Syldoran: . . . So?**

**Al: Are you still in shock?**

**_Syldoran nods slowly, never letting the book go._**

**Syldoran: It's the end of eight years of reading . . . . #twitch#**

**Lawyer: Well, could we get you to admit that you don't-**

_**A middle-aged man with dark hair suddenly comes barging into the room. He looks around briefly, then starts toward Syl.**_

**Man: God dang it, child, give me the book already! I don't care how much shock you're in, I'd like to read it sometime soon!**

**_The man yanks the book out of Syl's arms and stalks off. For some bizarre reason there's a piece of paper taped to the back of his shirt saying "Syl doesn't own the show or anything else other than herself."_**

**Ed: Was . . . that her dad?**

**_Syldoran nods again._**

* * *

Jordan stared into the kitchen sink, as if it would offer a solution to her thoughts. All it offered was a couple of dirty plates and forks that she had neglected to clean the previous night after dinner, and that she still didn't feel like doing this morning. 

She sighed and propped her chin up on her hand, in turn setting her elbow on the counter top. It was yesterday that Envy had left her and the brothers with the threat; she knew she shouldn't be so concerned about it, but still, the fourteen-year-old couldn't help but worry at least a small amount. This only made her heighten her research efforts, and in turn, this made her wonder about what would happen when she left.

Her original plans had been to get back home before she really settled down anywhere. If she started getting attached to people or places it would make it that much more difficult for her to leave. But now that she'd met back up with the Elrics, she found it harder to concentrate on her methods. And she was afraid that soon they would start to figure out what she was doing, which was the last thing she needed.

Jordan stared at her reflection in the silvery tap through misty eyes, only moving for a moment to transmute the white stripes in her hair into her natural color again so as to avoid being pestered by Mustang, before resuming her thoughtful position. Yesterday Al had seen some of her notes on the Gate, and that alone had made her subject to a long-winded talk telling her not to try anything dangerous. If they found out her actual plans, who knew how the brothers would react? Even if they were only concerned.

The teenager breathed out another heavy sigh. She should get moving. She didn't have her military coat half-buttoned for no particular reason.

"Are you looking for heavenly advice from the kitchen sink? If so, I would suggest looking upward instead," came a familiar voice. Jordan looked over her shoulder to see Edward, a smirk plastered on his face, standing in the doorway to the kitchen with his arms crossed.

"Eh, I wouldn't even look up. Heavenly advice means pretty much nothing to an atheist," she said dully. "I'm more likely to find advice from the sink than a god I don't believe in."

"Like what?" Ed asked rhetorically.

"I don't know," Jordan said mildly. With a glance at the dishes in the sink, she looked back to the blonde, pointed at the sink's contents, and said, "Well, I think this dirty plate could be advising me to do the dishes sometime soon, and this other plate is telling me to tell a certain blonde alchemist to learn how to rinse his dishes before putting them in the sink. And then this glass is reminding me that I drink too much milk sometimes and I should start drinking more water, and then this _fork-_"

"You're such a riot, aren't you?" Ed interrupted.

"I know, aren't I?" Jordan stood up straight and finished buttoning her uniform coat. "I tend to be rather sarcastic. And who do you think I get it from?" She didn't wait for an answer, simply draining a glass of orange juice that had been sitting next to her arm for the past four minutes untouched, alongside a fifth of a piece of toast, before kneeling down to re-lace her left boot. "Anyway, what are you planning to do for the eight hours I'll be busy?" she asked.

Edward shrugged. "Spend most of our time in the library, probably," he said simply, referring to both him and Al.

"Ooh, sounds like fun," Jordan said sarcastically, rolling her mahogany eyes as she stood up again and adjusted the collar of her coat.

"Has to be better than whatever it is you're doing, if you're serving straight under Mustang all day," Ed retorted, uncrossing his arms to lean against the doorway. He looked her over, taking in the full uniform she was wearing, and asked, "How do you even wear that thing anyway?"

"With great detest," Jordan said, gently adjusting the 'half-cape' that was attached to her belt and fell down to be just a little past the backs of her knees; she considered it a useless part of her uniform but wore it anyway to avoid getting herself in trouble. "But at least it's not summer anymore. It was toward the end of summer when I first started wearing this thing, and multiple layers of clothing aren't good for the kinds of temperatures you get in the middle of a city in summer." She picked up a hair clip that was laying on the counter and clipped her short ponytail against the back of her head; her hair was still so short that it stuck out of the top of the clip in odd, spiky bits. "Nearly passed out once or twice in the heat."

Ed glanced at his pocket watch. "Shouldn't you have left by now?"

"What, it's only, like, eight-fifteen, isn't it?"

"More like eight-thirty," Ed corrected.

"Oh, well, dang." Patting her pocket to make sure she had her watch, she yawned, and then stretched her arms above her head. "Well, I get a lunch break at twelve-thirty, so I'll try to meet up with you and Al then, okay?" Without anything else to say she crammed the last bit of her toast in her mouth, adjusted one of the bobby pins in her hair, and left, her boots clicking against the tile as she went.

After she left, Ed glanced into the sink at the dirty dishes and murmured something about "crazy girl" and "advice from plates."

--------------------

"Brother?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think research is all Jordan was doing with those notes?"

Ed looked up from the rather dull book he was reading. "I dunno, and it's not really any of my business what she does with her research," he said simply, and turned another page.

"Brother, you didn't actually see what it was, though," Al protested.

"And I can't say that I care all that much, unless it concerned the Stone in some way that she isn't telling us." Edward sighed and closed the book, adding it to one of the many stacks on the library table.

"But the things that she had written on that paper mentioned something about sacrifice, and trying to get past the Gate!"

Ed paused in reaching for another book. "Al, are you sure?" he asked.

His armored younger brother nodded; the metallic clatter echoed back off the walls and shelves of the empty library. "I'm sure. I didn't get to see much of it before she took it back, and I couldn't make much sense of what it was because it was a lot of notes and scribbles, but I know there was something about trying to get past the Gate using a sacrifice of some sort."

The fifteen-year-old grimaced. "Well, that doesn't mean she didn't just have that as part of her research notes," he said hopefully.

"I don't know Brother. She seemed really secretive about it. Remember, she was really quick to take that paper away from me, even though it only looked like it was a scrap."

"Well, regardless, it's really not any of our business," Edward said, picking up another book and opening it, defiantly beginning reading as if that settled the issue. However, he was hoping that Al wasn't catching onto anything. He didn't want to worry about his friend getting herself into serious trouble with something that she couldn't handle.

The more he thought about it the more he began to get suspicious. When Al had picked up that paper, Jordan _had_ seemed rather nervous about him finding it. Plus, she said she was only researching the topic out of curiosity, but it looked like she'd been working on the subject for at least a month, which seemed like more than enough time to find out what she wanted to know.

Ed shook his head and sighed. Whatever the cause, he didn't really need to know.

It was quiet for several more minutes as each of the brothers continued to read in the hopes of finding any new information. After a short while Ed pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at the time.

"Huh. It's past twelve-thirty. Wonder where Jordan is," he thought aloud. Al could only shrug.

--------------------

Jordan sneezed, dropping her pocket watch in the process. It dangled from her belt loop, swinging gently.

"You know, it's a rumor that when you sneeze that means somebody's talking about you," Hughes said next to her.

"Hope they're not plotting my downfall." Jordan yawned and stretched her arms out behind her back, taking great care not to spill the bottle of water she held. "Hey, out of curiosity, what were you talking to Ed about yesterday that he was yelling about? He told me not to ask him."

"Oh, it was nothing really. I just made a mention of what a couple I thought the two of you made."

Jordan, who had taken a swig of her water, was so surprised she nearly spat the liquid out. She had to cover her mouth in the sleeve of her jacket and turn away, spluttering, before she finally was able to swallow and get her choking under control.

"Lieutenant Hughes! What are you thinking?!" she exclaimed, her voice rising a few notes higher than usual. "What in the world gave you a crazy idea like that?!"

"Oh, it was nothing, like I said before," Hughes said innocently. "And you realize that you're blushing, don't you?"

"Yeah, well, okay, just don't ever say that again, if you don't mind," she said bitterly. "Anyway, I just realized I meant to meet up with Ed and Al ten minutes ago, so I'm off!" Before Hughes could say anything else she turned around and began jogging down the hall in the opposite direction.

_Man, no wonder Ed freaked out, that was such a stupid thing to hear from Hughes!_ Jordan thought, a little horrified. She raised her water bottle for another drink and got a dim reflection of her face in the plastic; she _was_ blushing.

That didn't mean anything. Of course it didn't mean anything.

She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn't notice the tall figure she almost collided with until she looked up only _just_ in time to dodge around him. She muttered an apology and kept on going.

"Where's the fire, Jordan?" he asked as she ducked around him.

"Oh, uh, nothing Major Armstrong," Jordan said, skidding to a stop. "I'm just late. I meant to go meet up with Ed and Al ten minutes ago and I totally forgot about it. I was just on my way to the library now. Um, sorry for nearly crashing into you," she added sheepishly.

"Well, you must learn to be more careful!" Armstrong admonished.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Now I'm off, again, sorry, bye!" Jordan gave a small wave and started off a little more slowly down the hall.

The fourteen-year-old chucked her water bottle into a nearby garbage can before entering the library. "Hey, guys, you in here?" she called, knowing they'd be the only ones there; the librarians were always out to lunch at this time.

"What took you so long?" Ed asked, standing up at a table out of the corner of Jordan's eye.

"Well, I'm sorry, Hughes was harassing me and Mustang's bothering me too," Jordan explained to the two brothers. "Come on, let's head to the cafeteria. I've got seventeen minutes left to eat and I'm starved."

As all three left the library in the goal of getting lunch, Al asked, "So what did Mustang want?"

"He's been dropping subtle hints that I should start thinking about my yearly state alchemist's review," she replied.

"How subtle?" Ed asked.

"As subtle as 'Lightning, don't forget about your state alchemist's review.'"

"Oh. Well, you shouldn't have to worry about it until the end of December or something, should you? You joined in January, after all."

Jordan shrugged. "I don't know anymore. But, I guess I should start thinking about it. The sooner I get the review done the better, and besides that, I haven't the faintest clue what in the world I'm going to show off that will keep my license from being revoked, and it's actually starting to worry me."

"Hey, I'm sure you'll think of something," Ed said reassuringly.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks."

"But what did Hughes want?"

"Ah, he was just wanting to say hi. That, and he told me what he was talking to you about yesterday. Pretty crazy, huh?"

Ed cocked his head curiously. "What was he talking to me about again?" he asked.

"Oh, something about how "cute a couple" he thought we'd make." As Jordan said this she could almost feel a new blush creeping up; she fought to not let it show. What was she getting so flustered about?

"Oh yeah, that. Crazy."

--------------------

The next few days passed rather uneventfully. Jordan spent a lot of time in her room, usually surrounded by books, and when the brothers actually did see her it was often only because she was either cooking or eating. It only served to make them more suspicious of what she was doing. However, anytime either one of them asked she always gave them an excuse that she was either researching or trying to come up with an idea for her review.

Ed and Al themselves were, however, busy with other business. They were constantly keeping a lookout for either Scar or any of the homonculi, something they were wishing Jordan would take a little more seriously. Over the days Ed became increasingly more irritated as Jordan refused to offer any help on the subject.

So, it was Ed who decided to inquire at some point one evening before Jordan could sneak back to her work, "So have you heard anything about Scar or the homonculi lately?"

"Well, no, I haven't," she answered carefully, pausing halfway up the stairs. "You know that if I had you'd be the first I'd tell it to."

"It's just been really quiet lately," Edward observed. "We haven't seen a thing since Envy in the library."

"I know," Jordan said dismissively. "Let's count that as a blessing while we can." She started back upstairs but was interrupted.

"Shouldn't you take this a little more seriously?" Ed asked, starting to sound a little agitated.

"I am taking it seriously. I'm also taking some other things seriously," Jordan replied simply.

"What is it that you're doing that's so much more important than tracking down these people who are aiming to kill us?" Ed demanded, his voice beginning to raise in volume.

Jordan turned fully around to face him. "And what the hell are you yelling at me about?" she wanted to know, starting to shout herself. "I've just got other things on my mind right now, and a lot I have to do, so I'm sorry if my priorities rank non-eventful killers lower than my research!"

"As if your damn research should be so important at all! What's it even about anyway? If it's so innocent like you made it sound before you shouldn't be so worried about it!"

"That's none of your business! Don't you think if I was going to tell you I would have by now? It's important to me and that's all you need to know!"

"Is it so important that you forget about the other people that need you?"

"Maybe the other people that need me are the reason why I'm trying so hard at my research! Maybe you've never stopped to consider that you and Al aren't the only ones that 'need' me!"

Ed faltered at this; what was he supposed to say to that? Before he could regain his bearings Jordan had disappeared upstairs again. He heard her door close, but not slam.

"Brother, what in the world just happened?" Al exclaimed, rushing into the room. "I heard you and Jordan fighting, what's going on?"

The older sighed and shook his head. "It's nothing Al," he said.

"But I've never heard you two fight like that!" Al said fearfully.

"It was nothing Al," Edward repeated.

"Brother, that wasn't nothing. I haven't heard you fight someone like that in a long time, and I've never heard her. What happened?" Al took on a more commanding tone, but his older brother refused to say anything.

"It was just something stupid, let's leave it at that," Ed finally said after several seconds before dismissing himself into the kitchen. Alphonse was left to wonder. He hoped their friendship wasn't going to end over this fight.

-------------------

Upstairs, laying on her bed, Jordan thought about the same thing. It was a stupid argument, but technically she hadn't started it. What was Ed getting so nosy about? He didn't need to get on her case about what she did or didn't do. She hadn't completely abandoned them and the search for Scar or the homonculi. Her research was because she knew people here cared about her, and she didn't want them to miss her when she finally got home.

She wished she could make Edward realize that.

* * *

_Dun dun duuunnn! _O.O _The suspense!_

_And stuff._

_Well, anyway, two things: One, I wrote a small little one-shot ficlet simply called "Hey There Ed" that I hope you'll go check out, if you haven't already. I've heard some pretty nice things about it from some people already, surprisingly enough.  
_

_And number two . . . _

**_It's Contest Time! Woo-hoo!_**

_That's right, right here in "An Alchemical Experience" I am holding a contest! A fan art contest, to be more precise._

_I want to see your best fan art of this story. I don't care who you draw, what you draw, or how you draw, I want to see it. You can draw the characters however you like; you can take a scene that you liked from the story and draw how you think it looked, you can make up your own scene for it, just make a group picture, make a scene you want to see in the future, I couldn't care less. I just want to see your art. _

_The top three winners will be able to make their own cameos to star in a one-shot fan fiction of "Fullmetal Alchemist" origin that I will write at some point after the contest's end, and I will also, if they like, post it up with my own story drawings on DeviantArt. Cool prize, eh? Eh?_

_Eh. _

_Basic rules:_

_1. No excessive violence or gore or anything sexual. (Duh.)_

_2. A note on romance: Romance scenes are fine, even encouraged if you think it should happen. But please make them logical; no yaoi, yuri, or incest or anything like that please. _

_3. Make sure the art has ties to this story._

_Other than that, anything goes! There's no limits to what you can do!_

_Oh my god, that sounded so cheesy. _

_Anyway, I recently put up a new drawing of Jordan on my DeviantArt account for you to reference from; you can link to my account through my profile on here. Send your pictures to the following e-mail address by **September 1**:_

syldoran(at)hotmail(dot)com

_Sorry for the format of the address; best way to get around the filters. Well, can't wait to see what you guys show me! As for me, I am going to go to bed. At the time of writing this it's past 3:00 in the morning. I'm surprised I haven't passed out on my keyboard. _

_Happy drawing, and remember to review! Reviews make my day. :)  
_


	31. What Can't Be Said is Argued Instead

_Abuuuh. _

_A few new changes to my fan art contest, due to the fact I've gotten no submissions, nor even confirmation anybody's entering (except for one person). Check it out at the end of the chapter. _

_Not many of you reviewed this time around. . . .#emos in a corner#_

_Also, sorry for taking so long. I waaay underestimated how long I took before starting and finishing the chapter. #emos even more# At least I made it a little longer for you guys. . .  
_

Your favorite plushie: Yeah, I can imagine that it sucks to be away from your family for so long, and know almost EXACTLY why you are. :( As for what Ed would say and think if he ever found out . . . uh, um, #COUGH# we have to move on.

Cha-chan-hyper: No, Jordan doesn't hate orange juice. She hates oranges as a fruit, but not juice. Aaanyway, it's been like two weeks since the review, so have you actually started drawing whatever you got a fleeting image of back then? X3

Pink-kiss-candy: Oh, it's okay if you can't draw. #pats you on the shoulder and gives you an Ed plushie# I made a new rule for the contest. Check it out at the bottom. #wink#

Ed: Okay, you know what, stop with the winking thing, it gives me the feeling you're planning something.

Aww. . . fine.

Undead-Poptart: Yum, Pop Tarts. Wait, I mean . . . #cough cough# Well, anyway, nice name change. X3 You have now officially given me a craving for something I can't have, because my parents never buy them, I'm broke, and I'm on a diet anyway. Curse you! Anyway, glad you liked the chapter. Do you really have a band called "Blood-Thirsty Waffles" or was that a joke?

Al: That's a weird name for a band . . .

Well, I've actually heard worse. That one actually sound kinda neat. Oh, and don't let the mutated Pop Tart eat Harry Potter! Unless . . . wait, is it a brown sugar-cinnamon Pop Tart? 'Cause it might be worth it then . . . .

Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1: Hope to see your contest entry soon. :) Hopefully, nobody here will kill each other out of anger.

Envy: But revenge is good-

Shut up and get out of here Envy! God dang it, every time I try to get rid of you you come back! What is with that?!

Celedeen-Tachibana: The suspense! Dun dun dunnnn!

Ed: Shut up.

Fine. Hope to see you draw. :D

Iceboltmage: I'm updating as fast as I can, rest assured.

Chik-A-Doom: Aw, my writing style isn't _really_ flawless, but it's a nice thing to hear. Thanks! And yay for inventing new adjectives! And also yay for the Harry Potter part! (I just love writing disclaimer stories. They're my opportunity to lighten the mood and be completely random before I crack down into some hardcore writing.)

Kamisori Kaze no Renkinjutsu: Sounds like some interesting fighting scenarios. O.o Ed probably doesn't need chocolate, or therapy. Well, okay, maybe therapy-

Ed: Hey!

-but I'm the one who needs the chocolate. Effing diet. ;.; Raaargh. #chews on the corner of her pillow#

Mew Sarin Alchemist: Oh, it's okay if you haven't reviewed. I'm really bad about that. X3 Just, er, stop hitting your head on the wall. I don't have the money to pay for repairs, or hospital bills. Aaaaanyway. I never actually had the problem of someone stealing the last Harry Potter book. I finished it the day we got it, after my mom did; I locked myself in my room and only left a couple times for the bathroom, and a bowl of Triscuits and some water. XD And dinner too, I think. I'm glad you like all my chapters, too. Maybe something will happen between Ed and Jordan . . . we'll just have to wait and see, now won't we? #joins in evil laughter#

Al: Brother, I'm scared.

Ed: I am too, Al.

Coolkat and Roookie: Ah, but that's why we all love Hughes. He gets in your business and breaks up the monotony of the day with pictures of his daughter. And we can always look at him in his uniform and laugh because we know he wears pink flannel pajamas with duckies printed on them to bed. X3

_**Syldoran stares at her computer. **_

_**And she stares for a while. It looks like she's disbelieving.  
**_

**Ed: Okay, what in the world are you doing now? #looks over her shoulder at the computer screen#**

**Syldoran: Abuuuuh. **

**Ed: . . . What?  
**

**_Syldoran points at the computer screen. On the screen is an art website, and a small message says "SonicRocksMySocks has added 'Hey There Ed' to their Favorites."_**

**Ed: So . . . you're shocked because some chick online put that fan fiction on her favorites list?**

**Syldoran: Yes! Dude, I _idolize_ her! She's one of the best anime artists alive! It's my goal in life to be _one-fourth_ as good as she is! It's like a huge honor for her to put one of my writing pieces onto her favorites! _A freaking honor!_**

**Ed: And you're "a freaking" crazy girl. **

**Syldoran: You could shut up now and I wouldn't miss the sound of your voice one little bit. #glares# **

**_Al comes up next, along with the lawyer._**

**Lawyer: So, are you in such a good mood that you would willingly admit what you have to?**

**Syldoran: Nevah! **

**Al: But when you weren't looking, we put a line into that fan fiction you wrote that said you didn't.**

**Syldoran: Oh, no way. I proofread that thing two million times, there's no way you possibly could have put something in saying that I didn't own "Fullmetal Alchemist"! **

**_Despite what she said, Syldoran hurriedly opens the story and begins reading it through for any traces of what Al said. When all the others start snickering, she quickly realizes what she said. _**

**Ed: Well, I guess we didn't have to argue too much with you this time to get you to say anything. Just a little white lie.  
**

**Syldoran: Oh, (beep) you all. **

**_She closes the internet browser, slams the mouse next to the keyboard, and stalks out of the room. Ed, Al, and the lawyer exchange grins of victory._  
**

* * *

Blade was a cat that constantly shifted between wanting attention and the desire to be left alone, and Alphonse found himself caught in one of Blade's attention-wanting moods. The cat rubbed up affectionately against Al's leg, and of course Al was more than happy to oblige in a scratch behind the ears. 

"Sometimes I wonder how you managed to stick around someone like Jordan," Al said quietly, as Blade purred loudly and leaned against his armor body.

Over the past several days, the atmosphere had been, to say the least, tense. Neither Ed nor Jordan showed any sliver of desire to apologize to each other, and one was hard-pressed to find a day where the two of them didn't quarrel over at least one thing. And more often than not, that one thing was something rather stupid.

"You still could have at least tried to put away some of those stupid books! It took me over an hour to find the places for all those and it backed me up on all the errands Mustang was making me run!"

"I forgot, all right? It was just an accident!"

"How could you forget to put away three dozen books?!"

"I'm only human! Which sometimes I start to doubt applies to you!"

"I could say the same!"

Al sighed as Blade leaped into his lap. And there they went again, bickering over a pointless reason; this time it was because he and Ed had accidentally left a huge pile of books in the library of headquarters. Obviously the one responsible for the clean-up job had been Jordan. Even more obviously, she wasn't thrilled.

The fourteen-year-old stalked out of the kitchen, polishing the lenses of her glasses furiously on the hem of her shirt as if the repetitiveness of the action would work out her frustration. Ed strode past her and left through the front door, slamming the wooden portal behind him.

"Hi Al," Jordan muttered before starting up the stairs.

"Hi," he returned quietly, keeping most of his attention on the feline in his lap. He listened to the sound of Jordan's footsteps progress up the stairs before finally turning back toward her and saying, "Are you and Ed going to keep fighting pointlessly like this?"

"What?" Jordan turned back in the hall to stand at the top of the staircase.

"You and my brother have been arguing for days. When is it going to end? It started over something stupid and now it's like the two of you are just _looking_ for reasons to fight each other!"

"Oh, Al, it's just hard to explain," Jordan said, trying to dodge around the question.

"Try."

Jordan sighed. "To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure. Sometimes I just wish Ed could just butt out of my business, I guess. It's really complicated and I don't even know myself."

"But I don't want you two to stop being friends just because of some ridiculous fight!" Al said. He sounded almost tearful.

"Oh, Al, no, nothing like that!" Jordan slid down the banister and hit the floor hard, going to lean over the back of the couch toward Al. "Al, don't think like that. Ed and I will patch things up soon, okay? You've just got a stubborn-ass brother, is all, and he obviously isn't ready to apologize. I guess vice-versa goes for me as well. Trust me. It's just one of those things where we want to be angry at each other, even if we run out of reasons, and one of us is eventually going to cave and everything will be fine."

"If you're so sure that you're going to make up, why not make it now?" Al asked accusingly. Blade lifted his head; he'd suddenly become aware that Al was no longer petting him.

Jordan bit her lip, unsure of how to answer. She settled for just shaking her head and going back upstairs, leaving Al to stare after her in wonder. Truth was, she wasn't even sure herself, whether what she said was true or not.

Al sighed. Blade looked up curiously, as if sensitive to the boy's irritation.

--------------------

She sat at her desk and dropped her head onto the wooden surface, crossing her arms over her head. She remained like this for several minutes, thinking. The frame of her glasses dug into the bridge of her nose, though she paid no heed.

_I really should apologize to Ed, _she thought.

_**Why should you?**_ a voice nagged in the back of her mind. **_You didn't start anything._**

_But I shouldn't have snapped at him like that before. It's kind of my fault that this whole argument started anyway._

_**He was getting into your business when he had no right! How is that your fault?** _

_He was just upset that I was getting so disconnected from everyone. I've been getting so obsessed with my stupid research and going back home that he and Al hardly saw anything of me. _

_**That has nothing to do with it! Ed knew you were busy, and all he did was start demanding of you for something not important! **_

Jordan sighed. _But he only thought I was doing regular research that held no importance, while Scar and the homonculi really are more important for them, not to mention their search for the Philosopher's Stone. So it's really my fault, because I haven't been able to tell him the truth._

_**But you **_**can't**_** tell him the truth, now can you? What are you going to say? "Oh, hey Ed, guess what? I'm actually a fan-girl, among millions of others, that watches you on T.V. all the time, and reads books about you, and I know everything about you, and Al, and I even know how you die! Oh, but that's not for a little while!" Yep, that'll definitely make Edward feel real good about himself. **_Her nagging voice took on a sarcastic edge.

The frustrated teenager pounded her head on the desk several times in succession. An argument with herself wasn't one she was going to win anytime soon. Her friends always said she'd go crazy if she kept talking to herself, but she had a feeling she'd crossed that line awhile ago. A long while ago.

_**Oh, and I guess you can't leave out the part where you don't even know how the hell you got here in the first place, but since you wanted to play along, you decided to LIE to them for the last nine or ten months and lead them on like you were some normal little girl that was born and raised in Amestris to begin with!**_

"I wasn't playing!" Jordan protested aloud. "I never even wanted this to begin with! Sure, once I got over the initial shock and started my alchemy training with Ed, it was kind of fun, but now it's kind of like a hell while I'm still _living!_" She dropped her head back onto the desk again, ignoring the pain the action brought.

_**Face it, maybe this fight with Ed is just what you need. You've always worried about what would happen to Ed and Al when you eventually did get home. Breaking up with him now before you're stupid enough to get really attached to him is probably the best move. **_

_Attached? What the hell?  
_

_**Suuure . . . either way, maybe it's a good thing. If you insist on making up with the guy, he's the one who should apologize first. Simple as that. **_

The conscience voice died out with the parting word. Jordan sighed, her breath fogging up against her desk's surface, then let out a small moan of frustration. She was still angry at Ed, that much was true. Why, she wasn't even sure anymore. She just was.

With another heavy sigh she sat up straight, adjusted her glasses, then began digging through the papers on her desk (not minding when several of them fluttered to the floor) until she found her slightly battered journal. Deciding maybe she could reread through some of her old notes to take her mind off the current situation, she flipped through the pages disinterestedly, stopping to read after anything caught her eye.

After perhaps five minutes of this, she got bored.

She picked up a pen and began tapping it continuously against the edge of her desk, mulling over her thoughts on her argument with Ed. The more she thought about it the more her irritation rose again, despite her attempts to remain calm, and she thoughtlessly began tapping the pen harder and harder against the desk until the top half of the plastic casing cracked and flew off, bouncing off the wall and skittering to a halt somewhere underneath her bed.

"Oh, well that's just wonderful," she muttered bitterly, slamming what remained of the pen violently down on the desk. She stood up stiffly, shoved her chair out of the way, and knelt down to the floor, groping blindly underneath her bed in hopes of finding the other pen half. When she couldn't find it using this method, she scowled and stuck her head underneath the bed, wrinkling her nose at the layer of dust covering the floor. When she sneezed, she slammed her head upward against the bed's lower frame.

"God _damn_ it, what is it with me and karma today?" she demanded angrily. She glowered at the floor, looking for the pen casing, but noticed something else instead. About a foot to her left was a thick rectangular shape, also covered with a fine layer of dust that was thinner than the floor's.

"What's this?" she wondered aloud. She reached for the object and pulled it out from underneath the bed, grabbing the pen piece as well when she noticed it but only tossing that on her desk.

The object in question was her sketchbook.

"How did this old thing get under here?" she asked rhetorically, brushing off the dust that stuck to the cover. "I haven't been so busy that I totally forgot how to draw, have I?" Jordan flipped the cover open and began browsing through the old drawings. She realized she hadn't even sat down to do a good drawing in at least a month, if not more, and some of the older pictures made her cringe. She'd definitely improved since she first transmuted the sketchbook out of that old wooden dresser at the inn room.

She noticed there were still a few blank pages left in the back. With a glance to the window, she saw it was only late afternoon. With nothing better to do, and a sudden itch to pick up a pencil, she sat down at her desk again (entirely forgetting the pen she originally meant to repair), cleared a space on the desk, and bent the cover back to the first blank page. Snatching up a pencil underneath the mess of pens and her quill, transmuting it briefly so the lead was sharp, she began to draw again.

Jordan worked for about an hour, not stopping for anything. She believed she heard the front door open and close not long after she began, and assumed that meant Edward had returned. Not that she particularly cared at this point in time. As long as he didn't bother her she couldn't care less about what he did.

After the hour or so had passed she blew out a heavy breath and tapped the eraser end of her pencil against the edge of her sketchbook, seeing what the final product looked like. She'd been spacing out for a good deal of the drawing process.

The sketchy pencil lines depicted two figures; a short-haired girl standing at a semi-sideways angle with her arms crossed, and a longer-haired boy standing with his back to her. The girl's head was hung slightly and she looked both thoughtful and despondent; the male's pose and loosely curled fists suggested a bit of anger, though his face was hidden by the angle and a few strands of loose hair.

The fourteen-year-old frowned, the pencil pausing in its tracks. She twirled the pencil in her fingers, and after another moment of silence began adding more details; spiking the bits of hair more, tightening the line art, adding more recognizable traits.

By the time she was finished the characters were definite: Edward and herself.

Biting her lip as she thought of the meaning behind her latest drawing, she pressed the tip of her pencil to the top of her paper, paused for a second, then carefully wrote out a small sentence in almost calligraphic handwriting:

_The things I can't tell you might be what break us apart._

She stared at the sentence for a minute, then scrawled her signature in the corner and dropped her pencil in disgust. She shoved her chair back from her desk, stood up, and stalked into the bathroom, thinking perhaps a hot shower would do her good.

"I'm turning into such a sap," she muttered to herself in reference to the picture she'd just finished. Maybe she'd color it later or something. Who knew.

--------------------

Ed scowled at the kitchen wall. The wall had done nothing to him. But there was nobody else in the kitchen to scowl at, really. Al was back in the living room, and he didn't want to talk to Al; Jordan was upstairs, but she was the last person he wanted to see right now.

So he continued to scowl at the wall.

Alphonse had told him he needed to patch things up with Jordan. He didn't want to. But he also did. He was sick of arguing every day with her, and he had a sneaking suspicion she felt the same. He just didn't want to confront her, especially since he knew she wasn't one for listening.

So, as a result, he still continued to scowl at the wall.

After a few more minutes, Edward decided two things:

Number one, the wall had been scowled at long enough.

Number two: May as well go see if Jordan was up to being agreeable now.

Edward stood up and left the kitchen, crossing curtly through the living room and up the stairs, doing his best not to announce his arrival before he even made it to Jordan's bedroom door. He was aware of the "I told you so" look Alphonse cast him as he passed.

The blonde alchemist paused for a second in front of her door, then rapped against the wood several times.

No answer.

"Hey, Jordan, wanted to talk to you!" he called. Still no response. If she was just being stubborn he would probably wind up standing out there for an hour until something happened. He knocked again, but when he didn't hear anything he started to get annoyed.

"Look, you wanted your apology so bad, and now you're just going to ignore me?" He reached for the doorknob and was surprised to find it unlocked. Whenever Jordan locked the door she would lock it with a blend of alchemically transmuted metals, different every day. In this manner it was almost impossible to guess what combination she used and transmute the lock off again, much to Ed's dismay. Jordan had found it amusing to do it to the front door on the days she returned home before he did. He was just waiting for the day when she forgot the combination she used.

But now wasn't the time for that.

Ed swung the door open and took a few tentative steps into the room; it was empty. A glance to the side told him she was in the shower; the door to the adjoining bathroom was closed, and the light shone underneath, not to mention he could hear the water running.

"Of all the times for you to take a shower, you choose now," he muttered. He waited for a moment, then deciding that he didn't need to be caught in the middle of Jordan's room and get himself in further trouble, turned around to leave. He winced when a paper rustled underfoot.

Sincerely hoping that he hadn't just crushed something important that would involve one of his _bones_ being crushed if Jordan found out, he gingerly lifted his boot to find a slightly crinkled but still serviceable sheet of paper. He picked it up carefully and examined it; there were words that could hardly be made out, scribbles, and a few doodles. Not much of particular interest, and the alchemist could only assume that it was just a trash sheet of paper. Still, he'd best not toss it.

Looking down, Ed saw several more pieces of paper scattered on the floor. With a quick glance toward the bathroom door to assure himself he was still in the clear, he knelt down and began picking up the papers, which led a small trail back toward Jordan's desk. He flipped through them, seeing what each one was about. Some were alchemy notes, others were doodles, half-finished drawings, even a page of cartoon characters with speech bubbles; but the ink had smeared, probably due to something being spilled on it, so he couldn't read the text. Nothing seemed important, other than the few pages of alchemy notes; he was interested to see each of those sheets had something to do with the Gate.

With all the sheets picked up a moment later, he shifted them into a small pile and placed them on a corner of Jordan's desk. He was just about to leave when something else caught his eye; Jordan's sketchbook was lying open, and a new work-in-progress was proudly displayed as the front page. Curious, he lifted the sketchbook carefully, being careful not to accidentally smudge the painstakingly made pencil lines, and frowned, a mixture of confusion, curiosity, and something that wasn't quite anger on his face.

"'The things I can't tell you might be what break us apart'," he read aloud. "What in the world does that mean?"

"What does what mean?"

Edward froze. He craftily turned toward the voice, shifting the sketchbook behind his back as he did so, to face Jordan. She'd just gotten out of the shower a minute ago; he hadn't even heard her turn the water off. Her hair was even still wet, dripping onto her shirt; she'd only come out looking for her hair band.

"Um, nothing," Ed fumbled, trying to slip the sketchbook back onto the desk without being noticed.

"Is there something you wanted from me so badly that you had to come into my room without my knowing?" Jordan asked coolly, taking a step to the side to see what Ed was doing with his hands behind his back. "You're really aiming to stay on my bad side, aren't you?"

"No, of course not," Ed retorted. "I actually came to talk to you, but you were already in the shower so I was just going to wait!"

"Talk about what?" Jordan took a few steps closer, snatching her comb and hair tie off the dresser. She pulled her comb through her hair. "Well?"

"Well, our stupid argument," Edward replied, pausing in his attempts to slip the sketchbook back. "I've been talking to Al, and-"

"What do you have?" Jordan interrupted, tying her hair back.

"What?"

"What are you holding behind your back?" Jordan threw her comb on the bed and crossed the room in two long strides. Before Ed could react she reached behind his back and yanked her sketchbook from his hands. She looked at the picture it was turned to, and her expression immediately changed to one of anger.

"So now you've been digging through my things again, huh?" she asked coldly. She looked up to her desk, and saw the reorganized papers. "Decided you don't trust me anymore?"

Ed shook his head. "It wasn't anything like that!" he argued. "It was just open on your desk!"

"That doesn't give you the right to go through it, or even decide to look at what happens to be on my desk!" Jordan retorted. "And if you're so willing to talk to me and try to make up, you should try not shattering my trust in you first! A lot of this stuff is important and actually kind of private!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but those papers were on the floor-"

"'Sorry' doesn't cut it anymore, Edward!" Jordan closed her sketchbook with an almost violent force and tucked it under her arm. "You get on me all the time now about how 'hard' it is to trust me anymore because of my seclusion, then you turn around, ever the hypocrite, just to prove it by destroying what faith I have left in you!"

Jordan looked down to the ground, shaking her head as if saying "no". When she looked back at him, Ed was surprised to see actual tears welling up in her mahogany eyes.

"Just forget it," she said quietly. She grabbed her hooded sweatshirt off the back of her chair, and wheeled around and out the door, leaving Ed to stare after her in confusion for a brief moment. When he regained some semblance of order in his mind he started after her.

"Just where are you going?" he demanded as he followed her quick pace down the stairs.

"Out," she replied curtly.

"For _what?_"

"Because I can!" The door slammed in Ed's face before he could make any further inquisitions; she was gone.

"Brother, what was that all about?" Al demanded, coming out from doing something of undetermined purpose in the kitchen. "I thought you were just going to go apologize!"

Ed glared at the door as if Jordan were going to come walking back through at any second. "I _was,_ but that obviously didn't happen," he growled.

"Why did you just let her run out like that, though?"

"Because there was no way in hell she was going to keep listening to me. You heard her!" Ed crossed his arms stubbornly. "Don't know why I had to be the first to say sorry anyway, she should be the one apologizing to me, that little-"

"Brother! Remember what you said when you came back earlier?"

The blonde pulled a look of confusion. "What'd I say when I came back earlier?" he asked.

"Ed! You said you saw Scar while you were out! That proves that he's here in Central!" Al said urgently. "Jordan doesn't know that though! She could really be in trouble!"

"So what's your point?"

Could he have, Al would have been glaring daggers at his older brother. "Maybe you just want to be stubborn, but you care about her a lot more than you like to act! You can't just let something happen to her, even let her get killed, over a stupid argument like this!"

Ed scowled. "The chance she's going to run into him-"

"They're just as high as yours! And you _did_ run into him today!" Al interrupted. "You barely managed to get back without him noticing you! Don't forget, Scar knows her name just as well as he knows yours! He's going to be looking for her! And you're just going to let her get hurt because of your own stupid pride, Ed!"

"But-"

"But nothing! Jordan could be in trouble and you refuse to do anything about it! You're just being stupid! You have to go stop her before something happens!"

"Fine!" Ed uncrossed his arms and stalked back toward the front door, pausing with one hand on the door knob. He hesitated for a moment, but one last glance at the still-furious Alphonse was enough to convince him otherwise, and he was out the door quickly.

Outside, Ed looked up at the rapidly darkening sky. A few stars were popping out along the eastern horizon as the sun set on the west, which made the sky fade from shades of yellow and red to darker hues of blue.

He suddenly realized how stupid he was being. Al was right; Jordan really could be in some serious danger. When he'd left earlier that day, he'd seen Scar simply across one of the many streets of Central. Ed had managed to duck around the corner of a shop before he was noticed, which would have caused a huge scene. As soon as he'd returned home he'd relayed the story to Al, but now that he thought about it he'd never bothered to tell Jordan, thinking it wasn't important and, with her attitude lately, that was probably the last thing on her mind anyway.

Concern for her safety suddenly rising, Ed picked a likely direction and tore off down the street.

* * *

_Sorry to have to cut it here. It was originally going to be one chapter, this one and the next, but it wound up being much longer than I thought. So, yeah. I'd put it here anyway but I need to keep some semblance of chapter patterns. And, I'm running out of ideas for what to write next chapter. Gives me something to write. _

_Disclaimer story is a true one. A girl with the user name SonicRocksMySocks practically dominates DeviantArt and SheezyArt with her anime work. And I envy her so very, very much. But I put that one-shot on SheezyArt, asked her to take a look at it, and she freakin' put it on her favorites list. I nearly died, I was so happy. And the squealing I did at the computer was definitely a giveaway to my joy._

_#ahem#__  
_

_Alrighty. I know I said my fan art contest was art and going to be ended on September 1, but I changed my mind. I realized that not many people were comfortable with drawing, plus I didn't give you all as much time as I thought I did. Soooo I decided to tweak it some now. _

_Now, it can be either fan art or a fan writing! _:) _Show me your best art, or show me a one-shot fan fiction or other form of writing (no song lyrics please) that relates to _An Alchemical Experience_. I'm hoping this will allow me to encompass a broader range of competitors and give more of my fans a chance to enter, because I'm aware that not many are good at drawing or are comfortable enough with their style, good or not, to put it up for competition. Same rules apply as before; no yaoi, incest, or yuri, no super-violence, romance shouldn't be anything sexual but is encouraged as much as anything else otherwise, you can do something with a scene you liked or want to see, et cetera, et cetera._

_And I want you all to keep in mind, in case you're doubtful that what you enter is worth it: I judge based purely on quality. I don't judge your work based on whether it's a subject I like, or if it's in a particular style that I like more than others. I judge based on creativity and quality. The only thing I'll really shun is if your writing piece is nothing but chat speak and typos. That's about it. I even take song-fics. I like seeing what kind of songs people think go with the characters. :) (And yes, this means there's no real way to brown nose me. Sorry.)  
_

_The new contest deadline will instead be **Octobe**__**r 20**,__ giving you all another month or so to work. (Was going to be the 1st, but I wound up taking waaay too long making the chapter and had to extend it.) Remember my e-mail:_

syldoran(at)hotmail(dot)com_  
_

_Go nuts, and don't forget to review this time! And please, please enter the contest! There's no point to me planning out a whole 'nother one-shot if nobody's gonna enter for it! (Seriously, my big ol' notebook has page of plans for the one-shot in it and I don't wanna waste it. . . .)  
_


	32. Stand

_This chapter comes out a little earlier then it would have otherwise!  
_

_Why?_

_'Cause the first two days I worked on it I spent home sick with a sore throat!  
_

_#throws confetti#_

_Anyway, no review replies this time around. As you noticed, I responded to everybody's privately due to the fact that some of you had questions about my contest and I wanted to answer those as soon as possible. In my profile there is a new section about the contest that hopefully I've detailed enough to answer any more inquiries you happen to have. That's where I've also started putting the submissions to the contest, if you all want to see what comes in. :)_

_On the contest, make sure you're working on your submissions! Right now one person has submitted, plus I've got confirmation from two other people that they have works in progress that they will be submitting. That makes three, which is only how many people I'm selecting. I need more of ya'll to make it a contest! ;3 _

_But, enough of that. Ed, Al, get off those freakin' lawn chairs, you don't get to relax today just because there aren't any reviews to reply to!_

_**Syldoran is now holding a small pink box, with some small tan-colored sticks poking out of the top, and squealing happily. From this view it appears that pink boxes bring her great joy, although she claims to hate the color pink. **_

**Syl: I love my Pocky, la de da. . .**

_**Oh. It's a box of Pocky. **_

**Syl: Ahaha. . . I love ya, Mom. . . **

**_From somewhere off elsewhere, you hear a woman's shout:_**

**Woman: It's only because I bought you the Pocky!**

**Syl: Hey, love is love, isn't it? Even if it is Pocky-induced!**

**Woman: Meh . . .**

**_The lawyer comes along.. He notices Syl holding the Pocky and stops, giving her a hopeful look._**

**Syl: No.**

**Lawyer: But you didn't even give me a chance to ask!**

**Syl: I said no. **

**_The lawyer appears disappointed. He then brightens suddenly. _**

**Lawyer: What if I promised to quit trying to stop your attempts to claim ownership of _Fullmetal Alchemist_? This would leave you free to keep trying, even though you're doomed to fail because the characters rightfully belong to Hiromu Arakawa!  
**

**Syl: Pocky takes precedence over anime ownership.**

**_Next to come along is Ed. He stops and does the same thing as the lawyer did before him. _**

**Syl: No. Can't a girl have her Pocky in peace?**

**Ed: I thought you loved us. . . **

**_Syl looks between her box of Pocky, the lawyer, Ed, and the Pocky again. She then takes out a stick of Pocky and put it between her teeth like a blade of grass._**

**Syl: Even love has its limits.  
**

* * *

Jordan walked at a furious pace, hitching up the hood of her gray jacket, shielding her face from an easy view. Several people gave her disgusted looks as she side-stepped around them without a care, but she wasn't concerned, if she even noticed at all. She walked with both hands supporting her sketchbook (which she'd neglected to leave at home), tucked under her arm. Wherever she was going, she just wanted to leave Ed far behind. 

The nerve of him! He'd acted as if he really wanted to apologize, but he manged to screw that up pretty well. Looking at her private work, particularly her drawings when he knew full well how much she despised others looking through her art without her permission, was one of the guaranteed ways to make her angry and give up on him.

She took off her glasses and covered her eyes in the crook of her elbow, drying her eyes on her jacket sleeve. Jordan didn't understand why exactly she was getting so upset now, but it was really beginning to bug her. She couldn't recall the last time she'd ever been bothered by a stupid fight.

Then again, she also couldn't recall the last time she'd fought with one of her best friends.

The distressed girl flipped her sketchbook open to the drawing Ed had seen. She knew Ed was probably suspicious now that there was some meaning behind the picture and the sentence describing it. Yet she couldn't explain it.

There were times she thought she'd give the shirt off her back just to be able to come clean and tell him and Al the truth. It wasn't just difficult to hide her secret because it was something so big, but because she so desperately wanted to tell the truth.

_**But you can't tell them,**_ her conscience nagged again.

_Shut up, I know._

She stared at the drawing.

It really needed color. Coloring her drawings was one of her favorite pastimes for thinking.

She reached into her back pocket for her wallet, just to check if she'd brought it; she had. Maybe she could grab a new box of colored pencils. Her last set was dying anyway, with half the pencils lost to the four winds. . . and the stores weren't going to close for a couple more hours at the least.

_Might as well_, Jordan concluded miserably. It's not like anybody was going to miss her if she was gone for a little while.

--------------------

"Crap! How far could she have gone in five minutes?!"

"Hey kid, watch where you're going!"

"Sorry!"

Ed didn't even bother to look over his shoulder while apologizing to the man he'd bumped into.

He was determined to find Jordan again, and at least warn her that Scar was around, even if she would stubbornly refuse to come back. Al's words of warning echoed guiltily in his mind, making him worry more than he thought he should.

Maybe he should be worrying as much as he was.

He shook that out of his mind. His first priority was simply to find his 'missing' friend, and if she thought she could take care of herself, fine, she could do that and he wouldn't care.

But, even with though the chances weren't all that high, what if Jordan _did_ run into Scar before Edward could find her first? She didn't know all that much about him; scratch that, she hadn't even seen the guy before, and while she knew about him from the briefings given to her by Mustang and himself, she wouldn't know what he was like.

How wrong Ed was, yet he didn't know it.

Without him even noticing his steps began to quicken. Just a little.

--------------------

"Hm. Nothing like a fresh box of colored pencils," Jordan mused under her breath, staring at the sharpened leads in the flimsy cardboard box. They'd cost her a pretty penny, that was for sure. Nothing like back home, where she could get a good box of pencils for a dollar.

Ah well.

She tucked her purchase under her arm with her sketchbook and started off down the street, noticing how the roads were beginning to empty. Automobiles slowly began decreasing in number until only one or two would pass by in a couple minutes, and people began clearing from the streets, returning to their houses for a home-cooked meal and a good night's rest.

Jordan began to get a little unnerved. Under normal circumstances, she had absolutely no problems with the city being quiet; in fact, it was a rather welcome change from the typical hustle and bustle that usually involved her (or someone else) getting injured. Alone was fine. Tonight, though, maybe due to her uneasiness after arguing with Ed, the gradually decreasing activity made her feel a little vulnerable, like she was being watched, or she was in some kind of danger.

_Maybe I should head back,_ she considered. The teenager immediately dismissed the notion. She had the entire intention of being gone for at least an hour, and it hadn't even been one-fourth of that time yet. She refused to so much as see Ed, let alone make any attempt at communication with him or go within fifteen feet of the 'stubborn dumb-ass idiot excuse for a genius alchemist', as she described him to herself.

Defiantly she sat down beside a shop that had already closed up for the night. She leaned against the cold brick, letting the chill soak through her sweater and cool her warm skin. She closed her eyes, listening to the quietness of the city, before setting her box of pencils down next to her, pulling a regular graphite pencil from her pocket, and opening her sketchbook to her drawing. Examining her box of colored pencils closely, she first took out a red, then stuck it behind her ear and took up her regular pencil. The teenager gently erased the lines to Edward's coat in her picture, leaving only a faint trace of the original line, then switched pencils and began to re-outline the coat in crimson, but only lightly. The effect was a pleasing transition between subject and background rather than the harsh cut-off between objects that was usually achieved through her typical habit of outlining her drawings with a pen.

Jordan continued this process with the rest of the picture; when she began outlining her own character persona, she paused and let out a small laugh.

"Man, I look so much better drawn anime than I do in real life," she said wistfully. "So unlike Edw-"

She cut her sentence off sharply and blushed. She hadn't been about to say what she thought she was about to say, had she?

Unwittingly Jordan slammed her head back against the wall, and immediately regretted the action as she remembered the long-ago-ingrained lesson that her skull, despite what her friends often said, was _not_ all that thick and would _not _protect her from potential concussions.

With an angry scowl she returned to her original, much less painful coloring work.

After a short time more of working in the gradually decreasing light, her scowl grew as she continually started humming a song that happened to be stuck in her mind. The song in question was one she'd enjoyed for a long time, but one she didn't particularly want in her head right now.

Jordan looked up, then around. There was nobody else in the area; all was quiet. Raising an eyebrow, she began to sing softly, hoping that maybe it would help get the song out of her head. Besides that, it would help to pass time while she worked, and break the disturbingly quiet atmosphere. It was even a little more relaxing, with some other sound other than that of the low-whistling breeze.

_You feel like a candle in a hurricane  
Just like a picture with a broken frame  
Alone and helpless, like you've lost your fight  
But you'll be alright, you'll be alright_

_'Cause when push comes to shove  
You'll taste what you're made of  
You might bend 'til you break  
'Cause it's all you can take  
On your knees you look up  
Decide you've had enough  
You get mad, you get strong  
Wipe your hands, shake it off  
Then you stand_

Jordan paused for a moment, considering the next lyrics, then continued onward, ignoring the awkward feeling that she was being watched. Somehow, she felt this song applied to her, or somebody she knew.

Maybe it did.

_Life's like a novel with the end ripped out  
The edge of a canyon with only one way down  
Take what you're given, before it's gone  
And start holding on, keep ho-  
_

"Ah! Hey! Watch where you're going!"

Jordan scowled at the rather large man who continued to walk on past as if he hadn't just kicked against her leg and completely ruined her work. Her box of colored pencils, once balanced on her knee, was now scattered as far as six feet away, and an ugly green mark scratched across the entirety of her drawing where the colored pencil she'd been holding had jarred across the paper at the shock of being kicked. Not to mention that her regular pencil was now probably lost to one of the four corners of the earth.

"Jackass," she muttered at his back, setting her sketchbook aside to begin picking up her colored pencils. Not only did she have a huge mess to clean up, but now she couldn't remember where she was on her song. She gathered up her pencils quickly, yanking back her hood to better her vision; it was considerably easier to see without the cloth shielding her eyes to either side.

Unfortunately, she didn't notice the man turn around and come back toward her, at least not immediately.

She took up her sketchbook and distastefully eyed the jagged green line that cut across the paper. With an irritated sigh she clapped her hands and pressed the tips of her fingers to the paper; the green line receded, leaving her drawing as it was before. That guy was incredibly lucky that she could perform alchemy so well; if he'd done that and she _hadn't_ been able to fix the mistake via alchemy, he would have been-

Jordan couldn't continue her thoughts as somebody laid a hand on the top of her head.

"Can I help you?" she asked coldly, jerking her head off to the side and out from the person's hand. "There are better ways of getting my attention than grabbing me."

"You are Jordan, the Lightning Alchemist, are you not?"

Her eyes widened and her face paled as she recognized the deep voice, and she cursed her timing for taking off her hood. She probably wouldn't have been recognized if she'd left it on just a little while longer. But not, she wanted to _see_ what she was doing. . .

She mouthed a swear and ducked out of the way and off to the side just as Scar's massive hand swept down toward her, missing the top of her head by a mere inch, if even that. Stumbling to her feet she didn't even bother to look back as she snatched up her belongings and ran.

_Man, Ed was right! I should have been paying more attention to Scar's inactivity, and now because I was stupid and didn't help him and Al I'm going to get my-freakin'-self killed!  
_

The frightened girl rounded an alley corner and ducked down behind a garbage can, forcing herself to slow her breathing and make it less audible. _And all I did was yell at him, too. . . so if I die here all he's going to remember is me screaming at the top of my lungs. . . not quite the way I envisioned being remembered. _

Jordan fought to formulate a plan quickly, fighting down the sickening fear bubbling up in her stomach. Hiding behind a garbage can wasn't going to work for very long, and in fact, if Scar had any functioning brain cells he would think to look in her hiding spot first.

He could do alchemy, technically. He had functioning brain cells.

Jordan didn't want a fight. Her idea of success, as of right now, was to get back to the apartment without a huge scene breaking out, among other things. Mainly with her head still intact. Maybe if she was quiet she could sneak away without being noticed.

A huge shadow loomed over her, blotting out the minimal light she had coming from streetlights.

No. She wasn't going to get away without being noticed.

Scar glared down at her menacingly, his crimson eyes flashing with hatred.

"Come on now, what did I even do to you, huh?" Jordan asked shakily, getting to her feet and seeking the brick wall next to her for support. "There's no reason for this, is there?" She tried to sidle along the wall, inching away from the murderous Ishballan bit by bit, discreetly looking for a way to bolt.

"You are a dog of the military," Scar stated coldly.

"Actually I'm, er, a human of the military-"

"And it is my job, under God's word, to-"

"Yeah, well, you know what? I have this feeling 'God' would rather I stay down here. I'm pretty sure he doesn't like me very much!" Jordan growled. She clapped her hands together loudly and slammed them against the wall she was leaning against. Huge tendrils of red brick erupted from the building's side and slammed a surprised Scar against the opposing wall, effectively pinning him helplessly. Wasting no time Jordan ran underneath the trap and out toward the road, her sketchbook and pencils laying neglected on the ground as she sprinted for safety.

Not even ten feet from Scar she saw a brilliant red light, and heard the sound of crumbling rock. Jordan looked over her shoulder and cursed; she'd forgotten that his right arm, emblazoned with the intricate tattoo for only the first two steps of alchemy, made for an easy escape for him. Despite the ease with which he obviously escaped, he did not look happy.

Jordan whipped around, immediately curling her hand into a fist and punching out toward her pursuer, hoping to catch him off-guard.

However, rather than slamming Scar in the jaw as per her plan, he easily caught her fist in his right hand.

"Oh. . . shit."

Scar tightened his grip around her hand; she couldn't pull away. The tattoo on his arm began to glow a fierce red; if Jordan didn't think of a way to pull out within the next half of a second she was going to find herself with her own brand new arm of automail. If she even survived the encounter to get any.

In a last-ditch effort Jordan dug her foot underneath the lid to a steel garbage can and flipped it into the air, while her free hand tapped against her trapped one.

She couldn't tell which transmutation light was which as she squeezed her eyes shut and hoped her plan would work, but when she didn't feel any different a couple seconds later, she dared to open one eye.

From fingertip to shoulder, her arm was covered in a layer of dull steel, from the transmuted trash can lid. It caught the minimal light, reflecting Scar's bewildered and angry expression in the metallic surface.

"So it worked," Jordan said with a grateful sort of half-smile, yanking her hand from Scar's and flexing her fingers. The metal covering was hinged at the joints, so she could do the action freely, but the steel was adding several ounces of weight to her hand, which was a little uncomfortable.

"What kind of human transmutation is this?" Scar demanded, eying her arm with obvious distaste.

"It isn't," Jordan explained as she scrunched up the sleeve of her jacket, forcing her voice not to sound as shaky as she felt, to a point where she was almost laughing with relief that it had worked after all. "All it is is a layer of steel covering my skin." She held up her arm, where there was a thick seam between where metal and skin separated. "It's just like wearing a metal glove.

"Your transmutation was obviously meant for human flesh," she continued, her eyes gleaming with victory. "That's a little difficult when that flesh is covered by metal, isn't it?"

Scar emitted a sort of growling sound and charged toward her again. Jordan made a small yelp and turned tail.

"Alright Jordan, now would be a most excellent time to be coming up with a new plan!" she told herself as she rounded a sharp corner, Scar not far behind her. On a whim she stepped closer to the side of a building she was running alongside, clapped her hands, and ran her fingers against the wood. Ahead of her, on another small shop connected to the one she touched, a set of rickety stairs formed from the splintering lumber. Not breaking in stride Jordan took these stairs two at a time and skipped the last four to vault onto the top of the small building. She turned around and knelt down to order to transmute the stairs away again, but Scar was faster than she thought. He was right up there with her before she could even clap her hands.

"Can't you just give up?" she complained, taking a few steps back. Of course, Scar didn't answer. Jordan bit her lip, coming to the edge of the rooftop, then turned and made a leap onto the next one and continued on as fast as her feet would allow on the unsteady tiled surface.

She just wanted to get away. Killing the Ishballan was obviously not an option, and if she could avoid it Jordan really didn't even want to hurt him. Unfortunately, the world's greatest escape plans for retreating from a murderer didn't really involve not injuring the chaser.

_Shit. . . what I wouldn't give to have Edward here right now! But because I had to get him so mad at me, he doesn't even know I'm in trouble!_ Jordan thought desperately.

Time for a different plan of action.

Jordan leaped from the edge of one roof onto the next, scrabbling to keep her balance and almost falling from the side. She got up and kept on running, hoping that her rooftop flight would deter Scar from continuing the chase.

No such luck. Scar was persistent in the pursuit, easily jumping the tops of the buildings after her.

_All right, I have no choice. Maybe if I try a little stronger alchemy. . . after all, I am called the 'Lightning' Alchemist,_ she thought wryly.

The fourteen-year-old turned around at the edge of the roof she was on, and clapped her hands together. Sliding her right hand off her left and guiding that hand in Scar's direction, she released a powerful lightning bolt that struck the rooftop just in front of him. She could only smirk in satisfaction as she saw his almost frightened face illuminated by the light.

"And that's why you should back off," Jordan said simply.

"Not until my mission is complete," Scar replied coldly. He took a few menacing steps toward her.

Jordan took as many steps back. She was out of ideas. There weren't any more materials around her that she could use for a transmutation, and all her attempts to make a distraction or escape were in vain. She didn't want to harm him badly.

There was no one to save her. And she was scared.

In her desperation to back up and find a new way out, she didn't noticed that she reached the edge of the roof. Her foot connected with air in one last step, and she suddenly realized she was on top of a three-story building.

She was roughly thirty feet in the air, enough to kill someone, and she had just stepped right off the edge.

Jordan let out a scream as she tumbled back and off the shop's roof. Her mind went at a blank; she couldn't think of a way to stop her fall if she tried.

_I'm going to die. I'm going to die right here, and nobody is going to even know,_ she thought. The world seemed to go at slow motion around her, and she knew it would just end as soon as she hit that hard ground.

"Oh no you don't!"

Jordan snapped open her eyes in response to the voice just in time to feel somebody barrel into her, wrapping their arms around her torso and taking her along for the sideways ride. She let out a winded "oof" as the air was knocked from her lungs upon contact with the earth, and felt like she was about to pass out from the impact.

She forced her eyes open once more to the sight of brilliant red cloth.

"Are you okay?" Ed asked, pulling his arms back and struggling to sit up. Jordan blinked a couple times, then took in a sudden breath. Her fear suddenly dissipated; she was sure she'd be fine now.

"Ed!" she exclaimed, sitting up immediately (ignoring the protesting pain in her left shoulder from where she'd hit the ground). "How did you-er, why did you you-_when_ did you-"

"Scar is out here, and he knows you're here too," Ed interrupted immediately.

"Well, gee, I only figured that out a couple of minutes ago when I started _running for my life-_"

"Does that explain why you fell off a roof and nearly broke your neck until I saved you?"

". . . It might." Jordan rubbed her left shoulder with her right hand. It felt like she could really be injured; just moving the joint brought on a great deal of pain. "Man, couldn't you have found a gentler way to break my fall other than tackling me? Felt like I got tackled by a defense linebacker or something hitting that ground, with how heavy your automail makes you." She felt a little relieved at the action rubbing her arm brought; her right hand was still covered with the steel, and it was cold.

"Well, if I had just run I would never have caught you in time," Ed retorted, and added while eying her metal-sleeved arm warily, "And on the subject of automail. . ."

"That? That's a long story." Jordan winced as she tried to move her arm again. "Man, I can't do anything. I really hurt myself there."

"It is pointless to continue running!" Scar called suddenly, appearing at the end of the alleyway in which Jordan and Ed were currently situated. He looked furious as ever.

"And it's a story that still isn't finished, so if you could save my useless ass then I would be more than grateful," Jordan said, wide-eyed. She stumbled to her feet and backed up a few steps. Ed couldn't recall the last time she seemed so terrified. He could somewhat understand, though. It was obvious she'd injured her shoulder, and if she couldn't move her arm she couldn't perform alchemy.

He shook his head and stepped in front of her.

"Be ready to make a run for it," he muttered back at Jordan. She nodded, bracing her stance to bolt whenever necessary.

Scar narrowed his eyes as he noticed Edward now standing in the way of the girl he was originally after. "Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist," he stated coldly. "So now you're here to protect the girl?"

"Yeah, that'd be me," Ed responded, holding his hands close together in preparation for a transmutation. "And yes, I am."

_Even after our fight he's still willing to keep me safe,_ Jordan though in wonder. She let out a small gasp of pain; her arm felt as though it could be broken, although she wasn't sure. She'd never broken a bone before in her life. Was it supposed to be screaming pain?

Her attention was brought back to Ed as the sound of a clap snapped her from her thoughts. Jordan looked up again just in time to see Edward slam his hands down on the ground. A wave of earth rolled over Scar's legs, binding him to the ground, and on a quick whim Jordan forced her hands together as well to add to the transmutation; the earth continued upward and bound his right arm to his side.

"Time to run now!" Ed commented, grabbing Jordan by the hand and half-dragging her out of the alley with him as she tried to stumble to her feet and run with his pace.

"Ed, slow down! You get an extra boost with every other step _and_ you're in better shape then me! I can't run as fast as you!"

"Then you'd better learn how to now!" Ed's speed remained undiminished.

Perhaps sixty feet away from the alley, Jordan lost her balance. A combination of both being distracted by her injury and trying to keep up with Ed's faster pace (she didn't have a choice; he still had a good grip of her hand) caused her to fall and land on the arm she'd already hurt.

She wasn't sure if she imagined the 'crack' or not, but she was sure of the plethora of pain that followed. Jordan let out a cry, tears of pain coursing down her cheeks as she gripped her arm.

"Jordan!" she heard Ed shout as he knelt down next to her and helped her to sit up. "What happened?"

The girl only shook her head and gently lifted her hand; it was stained with blood from a scrape received from the fall.

"I don't know," she muttered, forcing her voice not to quiver. "I-I hurt it earlier when you caught me, but just now I tripped from trying to keep up and accidentally landed right on it, and I thought I heard it crack or something but I don't know."

"Can you keep going?" Ed asked, concerned that she might not be able to make it back on her own.

"I think so," Jordan responded.

"Then you need to stand," stated the blonde, offering her a hand. "C'mon."

Jordan momentarily flashed back to the song she'd thought of. She almost couldn't resist a smile as she thought of the strange connection. Instead, though, she chose to take Ed's hand and let him help her to her feet.

"Yeah, stand," she murmured under her breath as she began running with Ed again. This time she found it much easier to keep up with him; no need to injure herself farther if Scar managed to get free.

--------------------

"It's a little too late to get it looked at tonight, but we can check it out tomorrow."

"M'okay."

"Don't talk with your coat over your mouth, it doesn't work too well."

"You try taking off a non-zipper sweater when you think your arm might be broken before you tell me not to answer your questions with a coat over my mouth!"

"Alright, alright. Just sit down," Ed held up a roll of bandage cloth, "and let me see."

Jordan sat down next to him on the couch and held out her arm, tossing her sweater on the table. Gingerly Ed began to wrap the bandage around the injury, being careful not to cause her any more pain. He nearly panicked when she let out a small whimper.

"Be careful, that's really tender," she hissed.

Ed gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry," he muttered, continuing his work. He glanced at Al, who was standing beside him, worried after hearing the story upon his and Jordan's return, then looked away again. He didn't want to imagine the smug thoughts Al must have been thinking.

The room was unnervingly quiet for a few minutes. Jordan occasionally winced if Ed tugged the bandage too tight without warning, but otherwise she seemed entirely vacant, lost in thought.

"Hey Ed?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm. . . I'm sorry."

Ed looked up. He was interested to hear what had to be said.

"This whole stupid fight we've been having started because I was just an idiot. You had every right in the world to be angry with me for it. I was always getting caught up in my stupid work, and I never had any good explanation for not working with you except 'I'm busy.' What you guys were doing, with the homonculi and all that, was probably a million times more important than my stupid research." Jordan stared at her knees the entire time she was talking, as if afraid to meet the gaze of the boy next to her. "And rather than trying to explain anything, I just snapped at you. It wasn't even worth it."

Edward was silent for a minute, pausing what he was doing to absorb everything Jordan had said.

"It's not all your fault," he said finally, giving another tug on the bandage and earning a hissed "Ow!" from Jordan. "I should've respected it more, the fact that you didn't want to tell us. I didn't know how important your research was, and I had no right to get mad at you because you wanted to keep it secret. Besides, you were right, Scar and the homonculi were really quiet. Nothing was happening, so why shouldn't you have worked on what else you thought was important while you weren't busy with anything else?"

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm sorry too."

"Forgive and forget?" Jordan suggested with a weak smile.

"Yeah, forgive and forget," Ed agreed. He gave the bandage one last gentle pull before saying, "That should hold you until tomorrow."

Jordan nodded in acknowledgment that he had finished. She reached for her sweatshirt, as if she were going to get up (she was exhausted and bed sounded like the best thing since sliced bread at the moment), then stopped.

"Hey, also. . . thanks."

"For what, wrapping your arm so it wouldn't break even more than it probably has already?"

"No."

"Well, for what, then?"

"For saving me tonight."

Ed almost laughed; he chose to give her an almost amused look. "What, did you expect me to do anything else when you're about to get yourself killed?"

Jordan rested her elbows on her legs, hanging her head. "Ed. . . that's exactly what I mean," she said softly.

"What do you. . ." Ed felt he'd made a bad choice of words.

"Ed, I thought I was really going to die."

The boy's retort caught in his throat; whereas he had been about to deny whatever she was going to say, now he couldn't.

"I was the only one out there, and all I could think was that I was going to die, and I hadn't even gotten to apologize to you or anything. It was way different from when we fought the homonculi in Lexalin. It was the scariest thing I've ever gone through. I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it back alive at all."

He grimaced. He knew exactly how she felt. Memories of only a few years back came rushing to his mind again; being trapped in the back of the van, trying to save his own life as Barry the Chopper came after him promising a death for no other reason other than his own entertainment, knowing that there was nobody else that could help him. . . He'd never fully recovered from the traumatic experience, and it would continue to haunt him.

"I just. . . Ed, I didn't know what was going to happen to me. All I knew was that I was positive I'd never see you, or Al, or anybody else again." There was a quiver to her voice, and Edward noticed she was trembling.

He laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder, offering what little comfort he could. Jordan rubbed her eyes on the back of her hand, trying to pull herself together.

"Maybe it's just stupid, but. . . " Jordan trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

"There's nothing stupid about being afraid," Ed interrupted briskly. "But you don't have to worry now. You're among friends here, and you know that."

Jordan couldn't help but smile. As if on cue, Blade jumped up into her lap and crawled under her arms, tickling her nose with his thick fur. She obliged in a scratch behind the ears and took comfort in the resulting purr.

"Yeah, I know," she said after a minute. "But it's just one of those things that you can't ever imagine you'll be able to fully live down, you know?"

Edward nodded. "I know." He shook away his own memories. "I know exactly what you mean." Standing up, he added, "You'll be fine, though. You just need a good night's rest and you'll feel better in the morning."

"I guess you're right. I could use some sleep," Jordan said with a weak attempt at a chuckle. She took up Blade in her arms and got to her feet. "I'm beyond the point of just exhaustion anymore."

Choosing to leave her jacket on the couch and deciding to grab it tomorrow (as long as she knew where it was she really didn't care where it got left), Jordan started back toward her room.

"Oh, wait a minute," Ed called. When she turned around Jordan was surprised to see Ed holding out her sketchbook and box of colored pencils toward her.

"You found those?" she asked in bewilderment.

"I found them before I found you," Ed said with a shrug.

Jordan took the drawing items, doing her best not to jar her arm in trying to shift Blade at the same time. "Thanks," she said, a bit touched that he would bother to retrieve them for her.

"It's no problem," Ed said modestly. "However, you need to go easier on yourself. " When Jordan opened her mouth to ask what in the world he was talking about he continued, "You really aren't as bad an artist as you try to make yourself sound."

"Meh, I still don't think I'm all that great, but thanks anyway." Jordan bowed her head and looked up again with a smile.

When their eyes met again, a second or two passed before they each found their faces growing warm. Jordan coughed and turned her head to hide it, while Ed suddenly found the floor rather interesting.

"Well, um, anyway, good night," she said quickly and darted up the stairs. Ed muttered a good night as well before looking back to where he thought Al was.

He didn't realize Al had left near the beginning of the conversation to give them their "own time."

* * *

_I'm done. Phew. I kept procrastinating writing this thing. Writing the fight scene, I went at a rate of about two sentences an hour. O.o Definitely slow. _

_Anyway._

_Review now and go work on your contest submissions. Go. Now. Go work, dammit. _

X3


	33. Sorry to Thanks

_See? I am capable of writing new chapters now, and not just throwing out stupid reminders for the contest! _:3

_The results of which are at the bottom of the chapter. So, yeah._

_Sorry for taking so long. -.-' I had MAJOR writer's block writing this chapter, so if this chapter isn't all that great, I'm sorry._

Kinjo Satsujin-han: Woo-hoo! Somebody else who knows country music! I don't feel like such a nerd anymore!

Ed: That's up for debate.

Shut up. Anyway, to agree, yes, Edward does rock. Out loud. :3

Celedeen Takarona: Thank you. :3

Caspercat22: Thank you. Ed can be rather thoughtful at times, can't he?

Al: That's what you think . . .

Coolkat and Roookie: Meh . . . I did _okay_ on the fight scene, I think, but I don't think I'm all that great. Heh heh . . .

Kisa44: I never received your fan fiction thing. D: Oh well. Glad you liked the chapter either way.

Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1: Your drawing was excellent, even in gray-scale. (/rainbow-scale, ha ha.) Anyway, thank you:3

Ruroni Angel: Yes, be grateful I'm not nearly as slow as some of the other authors here. You guys hear from me every couple weeks or so rather than months. :3

Ed: Yet you still manage to procrastinate rather badly . . .

Meh.

Death Butterfly Alchemist: Heheheh . . . yeah, about that-

Ed: You think we should do _what_ now?!

Er . . . obviously Ed's not too hung up on the idea. Yet. #coughs#

Ed: #narrows his eyes suspiciously# What do you mean "yet"?

Nothing, nothing . . . #coughs again# I am glad, though, that I was able to keep you on the edge of your seat as you so claim. It shows that I AM able to write suspensefully! Yay! #happy dance#

Cha-chan-hyper: Whoa. Calm down. O.o I'm sure you don't have Alzheimers. Or however you spell it. I'm lazy.

Devil-Speaker: In that chapter . . . you thought Envy was going to . . . #chuckles nervously#

Envy: Okay, no. Never. In a million years.

I feel sick . . . #runs for the nearest trash can#

Envy: Er . . . anyway, yes, be happy for the pairing that may actually happen that you seem to like . . .

Ed: We're doing what? . . .

Nakori Elvenborn: . . . Interesting.

Anime Angel Alchemist: I love that song. :3 And thank you.

**Ed: You have to stop staring at your computer screen soon. **

**Syl: But the fan arts . . . the lovely, lovely fan arts . . . #makes a weird dreamy, giggly noise and leans against the computer monitor#**

**Ed: And drooling on your monitor is going to do what beneficially?**

**Syl: I'm not drooling . . . yet . . .**

**Al: Your computer is sparking . . .**

**Syl: Oh snap- #sits up abruptly and wipes her mouth on the back of her hand#**

**Ed: And you were saying?**

**Syl: But I like the fan arts! #frowns# They're so awesome! And they make me feel loved.**

**Ed: Because they're beyond your artistic talent?**

**Syl: That's part of it. But I feel so looooved. **

**Ed: Because people sent you a few fan arts?**

**Syl: Exactly! It's awesome! People like my story so much and appreciate my writing so much that they actually took time out of their lives to participate in my little contest that they didn't even have to take a second look at! It's great! **

**_Syl makes a little fangirl scream and glues her eyes to the computer screen once more. Ed and Al exchange glances._**

**Ed: Er . . . okay, well, since Syl is extremely preoccupied, I'll just take the liberty of saying she doesn't own anything of _Fullmetal Alchemist_ or songs that she has and will use. She owns Jordan as herself and Blade. And maybe other made-up things that were made for the purpose of the storyline. **

**Al: Brother . . . I want to leave now . . . Syl's scaring me . . .

* * *

**

_Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes_

_Five hundred twenty-five thousand journeys to plan_

_Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes_

_How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?_

So Jordan's voice rang through the kitchen early the next morning. Her arm still hurt and she was looking forward to having it set in a cast or something to that effect later, but oh well. Nothing could ruin her mood right now. She'd made up with Edward, her drawing was almost done, and her arm . . . well, it still hurt like hell.

But again, who cared?

_In truths that she learned_

_Or in times that he cried_

_In bridges he burned_

_Or the way that she died _

Jordan flipped an egg into the air, caught it with her good hand again, and cracked it on the edge of the metal bowl as she sang. Her only hope: she wasn't waking up the brothers with her song. That, and that she wouldn't shed any hair into her and Ed's to-be breakfast. With her left arm bandaged so stiffly she couldn't reach back far enough to fix her ponytail, and as a result, her hair was falling loose, curled in some odd directions with her bangs straggled sideways in a comical sort of cowlick on one side and flattened to her head on the other.

As she swiftly took up the container of milk and poured just enough into the bowl for her to use for two omelets, she frowned. Maybe it had been only her imagination, but she could have sworn she'd heard a slight shuffling noise from the hallway leading to the kitchen. Was somebody listening?

Not likely.

But just in case, Jordan dropped the volume of her voice to about half its original loudness as she reached for the carton of eggs again.

_Remember the love_

_Remember the love_

_Remember the love_

_Measure in love_

_Seasons of love _

_Seasons of-_

"I don't think I've ever heard you say anything like that, let alone sing," an all-too-familiar teenage boy's voice said smoothly.

"Holy crap!" Jordan's reflexes worked at a speed about five times faster than her mind; without a pause she had whipped around, and the egg that she had been holding in her hand was no longer in her hand, but rather flung across the kitchen.

Jordan heard the sickening crack and splat, and when she realized she was standing foolishly next to the counter, with her arm out in front of her and her feet braced as if she were in the follow-through motions of a throw, she dared let her eyes stray upward. Ed was standing stock-still on the other side of the kitchen, an expression that was sort of a mix between disbelief, anger, and disgust on his face as the cold egg yolk slid slowly down the side of his face. Flakes of white egg shell collapsed upon themselves and stuck either in his hair or fell into the folds of his jacket. Jordan nearly burst out laughing.

"Is there a reason for that?" he asked simply, suppressed rage evident in his tone.

"Oops. Want a towel?"

"I don't trust you now."

"It's an egg. Won't kill you. In fact I'm pretty sure it's good for your hair, protein and whatnot." Jordan took a kitchen towel she'd had on her shoulder and tossed it to the eldest Elric brother. As he snatched it from mid-air and began to defiantly clean the egg off his face, Jordan could only quip, "So what have we learned about startling the girl in the kitchen?"

"Yeah, yeah . . . " Ed muttered through the dish towel. A moment later he took it off his face and threw it roughly back at her. "But it was such an opportune moment. You seemed more than lost in your song or whatever."

"You weren't supposed to be listening," Jordan said lightly, shamefaced. She quickly busied herself with picking up a fork and whipping the bowl of eggs she'd had been working with to start out. "I thought I was the only one awake, and that you wouldn't even leave your room until you had the smell of food to spur you on . . . And it was really quiet down here by myself and I always sing something to break the silence . . . ."

"I do have to admit that the prospect of a well-cooked breakfast did tempt me on," Edward replied with a lifted eyebrow. "But a meal and a show was more than I expected."

"Oh, knock it off, okay?" Jordan said, a pleading note creeping into her voice.

"Alright, I'm done, " Edward said with a laugh. "But, was that from something? What you were singing?"

"Just something back home," Jordan mumbled. "Something I did for a friend, is all. And he did some anime clips to it for an AMV and stuff. Nothing really special."

Ed blinked, giving Jordan a rather blank look. " 'Anime'? 'AMV'? What in the world are you talking about?"

Luckily, Jordan had bowed her head low enough over the bowl of eggs that Ed couldn't see the blanched expression that crossed her face. "Er, nothing, nothing," she said with an absent giggle. "Just some absent terms that you would never understand without ten hours' worth of explanations and that I'm surprised that I can still even use correctly." She turned to the stove and carelessly poured half of the beaten eggs into the pan, which sizzled loudly against the heated iron.

When she looked back to Edward her eyes strayed to his long bangs. Her gaze immediately focused on a flake of white sticking to the strands of blonde hair. Frowning, she took a step toward him.

"Hey, Ed, hold still for a sec," she said.

"For what?" the fifteen-year-old demanded, taking another step back.

"Just hold still, you've got something-"

"Don't be doing anything! Get back!"

"Ed, don't-Ahh!"

**_Slam!_**

"Oww," both teens moaned upon contact with the hard tile floor. Ed had grabbed Jordan's wrist in protest of her attempting to pull out the shard of eggshell that stuck persistently to his bangs, and the ensuing commotion had wound of with both of them falling onto the floor in a rather awkward position. After the initial crash-and-tumble had calmed Jordan dared open her eyes to see Ed hovering awkwardly over her. Supported only by leaning on his left arm and knee and his right hand, Ed held himself all of an inch above the fourteen-year-old girl. Likewise, Jordan couldn't move, and was surprised with the obvious proximity; she could see Ed perfectly clearly, even though her glasses had fallen off.

Both teens could feel their faces positively _burning_.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" a younger male's voice asked, sounding a little embarrassed himself. The sight of the two teenagers probably didn't seem like a very good thing to walk in on . . .

Jordan and Ed both snapped their gazes onto the younger boy, startled that he'd chosen _such_ an opportune moment to walk in on them.

"No Al, you're not," Jordan said, roughly pushing Ed off to the side -ignoring his protests as she did so- and standing up, dusting herself off and looking for her glasses. "Just one of the biggest cliches in history that happens as a result of two people falling over." She snatched up her glasses, put them on, and then busied herself again with the interrupted making of breakfast, using the activity as an excuse to hide her blushing features.

She could help but think that maybe it would have been a little nicer under different circumstances . . .

Jordan shook her head and shuddered. She was having some weird thoughts this morning.

"Anyway, um, how's your arm doing?" Ed asked, eager to change the subject before Al could make a comment.

"Hurting like hell but holding up," Jordan replied, suddenly aware of how much it still hurt. "Think it might just be a fracture rather than a full break, but we won't know until we get it checked out today." She poked the bandages on her arm. "Interestingly enough, this'll be the first time I've ever broken something. Yay for that."

"Well, hopefully that's the worst it'll be," said Al, trying to be a little positive.

"Hopefully," Jordan responded with a nod, tending to the eggs in the pan.

--------------------

"Jordan, are you _sure_ you'll be fine?"

"Ed, relax. You're worrying too much. I'm fractured, not made of glass, okay?"

"But the doctor clearly said-"

"Not to put a lot of weight or stress on the fracture. I know. However, like I said, I'm not made out of glass, and I'm also right-handed, not left, so I think I can handle having a cast on my left arm for an incomplete fracture for a couple weeks. Sheesh." Jordan rolled her eyes and lightly punched Ed in the shoulder. "Calm down, worrywart."

"I am not . . . " Ed protested shamefully.

Jordan smiled knowingly and looked around the Central streets, glancing at various shop windows as the two walked back to the apartment. Or rather, three of them, since Blade had insisted that morning that he come along. And, in typical lazy-cat fashion, he had somehow managed to leap on Jordan's shoulder and keep himself perched there. Jordan reached up and gave him a gentle pat on the head.

"You know that thing's going to get himself killed one of these days if he insists on coming everywhere?"

"Nah, Blade's smarter than that," Jordan said, trying to shrug without disrupting Blade's apparent comfort. "And he is not a 'thing', he is a cat. A very nice cat at that."

Edward shook his head disbelievingly. "I've had my fair share of wanting to keep pets as a kid, but I can't see how you've managed to get so attached to him."

"Well, I found him in Central some months ago," Jordan began, "and when stuff spilled out of my backpack, I set it down to pick everything up, and he crawled in when I wasn't looking. Somehow he didn't hurt himself in my backpack, even when I threw it on the bed. When I did that, though, he meowed in protest and crawled out."

Blade purred approvingly, as if he were recalling the memory as well, and Jordan smiled and continued. "I couldn't just put him back outside, since it was starting to storm and he obviously didn't have an owner. Since then he's just been around. It was kinda nice, too . . . I spent a lot of time without anyone else for company, so Blade kinda filled that space."

Ed gave her a curious look. "How _long_ were you on your own?" he asked.

"Um . . . counting my time with Teacher, probably . . . I think it was eight or nine months. I lost track," Jordan said with a sheepish grin, rubbing at the back of her head.

The blonde male blanched. "What were you doing that whole time?"

"Studying with Teacher for most of it," Jordan responded. " 'Til Mustang screwed me over, anyway. Good-for-nothing-"

"Why did you start studying with her?"

"To learn, duh."

"But Teacher rarely takes on students. It was practically a miracle she taught Al and me."

Jordan shrugged. "Trust me, I wasn't _expecting_ to ever become her apprentice. She helped me get my wallet back from a thief on a train while I was heading somewhere in the direction of Dublith . . . after I bumped into her first, of course." She chuckled. "Call me the receiver of the second miracle. I asked her completely out of the blue and followed her for five or ten minutes before she finally said yes."

"Why did you ask her, though?"

The girl's smile faded a bit. "I was hoping she could teach me something that I couldn't find elsewhere," she responded, a little less cheerfully. She shook her head. "It was nothing, though. Unfortunately she couldn't teach me what I needed, or she refused to, and so I've just been on my own working for it since then."

"What are you trying to figure out?" Ed asked curiously. "Maybe I could help?"

"Heh, you wouldn't believe me in a million years," Jordan laughed. "Don't worry about it, though. It's not all that important."

Edward frowned at her, concerned that she was hiding something from him. Surely she knew she could tell him anything . . . or at least he hoped she could think that way. Mentally he sighed; it wasn't up to him, and he wasn't going to start another argument with Jordan by pressing the matter again.

"Well, anyway," Jordan started, "Can you think of anything we need to do before we get home-"

"Oh, excuse me!" somebody interrupted. A teenage girl with red hair pushed past, looking back at Jordan and Ed. "Didn't mean to interrupt. Sorry!" She continued onward as if nothing had happened, disappearing through a crowd of people.

"Okay, um, anyway, not that I can think of . . . " Ed trailed off as he looked at Jordan. She was staring off in the direction the red-headed girl had vanished in, her eyes glassy and unfocused. "Uh, Jordan? Something wrong?"

Jordan took a few steps in the direction of the girl, then started jogging, then running. "Ed, I'll be back in a minute!" she called, sounding frantic. Blade leaped off her shoulder and tried to keep up, but fell behind when he lost his owner into a group of Central citizens.

"Where the hell is she going?" Ed demanded of the cat, as if he expected an answer. When he, of course, didn't get a response from Jordan's faithful companion, he shook his head and started running after his friend, ignoring complaints from the people he pushed aside (accidentally or on purpose) in his run.

"Jordan! What are you doing?!" he shouted ahead of himself, trying to make Jordan stop. He wondered what had caused her sudden flight; the most he could think of was that it had something to do with that girl who'd passed by, but what did she have to do with Jordan?

--------------------

She'd left Ed behind, her breath was all but gone, and she wasn't even sure that she knew what she was doing, but Jordan was determined to catch that girl. One thing kept running through her mind: _How did she get to Amestris?_

Jordan wove through the crowds of people, keeping the red-headed girl within view. She nearly panicked several times when the person she was pursuing fell from her sight, but breathed a sigh of relief every time she came into view again.

"Wait, stop!" Jordan cried desperately. The red-head stopped and looked around in confusion, unsure of whether the yells to stop were meant for her or somebody else. Jordan got a good look in her face and stopped immediately in her tracks.

That wasn't her, Jordan realized in shock as the other girl shrugged and started walking off again. She stood stock-still in the middle of the sidewalk, a horribly crestfallen expression on her face; anybody who looked at her may have sworn she completely stopped breathing from how still she stood.

"Damn," she whispered, "I thought I'd finally found somebody . . . "

"Jordan!" someone shouted. Jordan heard running footsteps before Ed skidded to a halt next to her. "What happened? What was that girl about?!"

His dark-haired friend didn't answer for a moment, then she said, her voice hardly above a whisper, "I thought I'd found a friend that I haven't seen in almost a year now. Somehow I thought maybe my best friend in all the world had managed to find her way to Amestris, and by now that would have been one of the most amazing things to ever happen."

She took a deep breath. "But I was wrong. Just a look-alike." She shook her head. "C'mon, let's get going," she said to Edward's concerned look. "It's nothing. Better to forget about it. Where's Blade at?"

"No it's not," Edward protested, putting a hand on her shoulder and turning her to face him.

"Yes it is," said Jordan, frowning. "It's nothing important, we should forget about it." Taking a deep breath, she looked around and asked, trying to divert the subject, "Can you think of anything we need to do before heading home, besides figuring out where Bla-"

The screech of tires against the road interrupted Jordan mid-way, along with a woman's scream. Ed and Jordan looked at each other and nodded, confirming the plan to drop the subject and check out what was going on now.

The two teens ran back in the direction they'd originally come, and came across a small scene. A car was parked at an angle in the road, and several people were gathered around. A man (presumably the driver of the automobile) was kneeling down in the road, hunched over a dark, still shape.

"I hope that cat didn't belong to anybody," a woman whispered to her friend; Jordan swallowed. No, it wasn't possible, she told herself. The idea that _that_ had happened was so ridiculous that it wasn't even funny . . .

Jordan pushed past a few people and leaned forward for a better view of what happened; she saw a streak of white on the chest of the unmoving animal. Ed looked over at her as her face paled, and she brought a shaking hand up to cover her mouth in shock. Before the blonde could stop her Jordan was rushing out into the middle of the road.

"Blade . . . oh my god, Blade!"

The man looked up from the unfortunate feline's unmoving body. "Did this cat belong to you, miss?" he asked, hearing Jordan's disbelieving cries. Jordan forced a nod and told herself repeatedly not to break down; despite her best efforts her quaking knees gave way and dropped her to a kneeling position on the ground. She reached a shaking hand out toward Blade and yanked it back immediately upon touching his fur; it was still warm.

"I'm sorry," said the driver. "He ran out in front of the car before I could even see he was there."

Ed looked at Jordan and tried to guage what she was feeling, but the attempt was in vain; whatever she felt was hidden behind an emotionless mask. She refused to fall apart in front of all these people, no matter what what she was told.

"At least he went painlessly," the driver continued gently. "His neck was broken cleanly and he went without any pain."

Edward glared at the man, thinking obviously that telling Jordan the full story wasn't going to make her feel any better, but his expression softened when Jordan piped up.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "At least I know that much." Her voice quivered only a little as she forced herself to keep herself calm.

"I really am sorry," said the man, gently patting Jordan on the shoulder a couple of times comfortingly as he got up. Jordan simply nodded again and gathered Blade's limp body in her arms, standing up and beginning the slow walk back to the apartments. Ed followed behind her a few paces, noting the sympathetic glances several people shot at Jordan as she passed; whether she noticed or was just pointedly ignoring them was unknown.

What was known to him, though, was the fact he couldn't ever remember a time where she'd look so defeated.

--------------------

The walk back to the apartment was painfully quiet; Jordan walked with her head hung, occassionally running the palm of her hand over the top of Blade's head and whispering things to herself under her breath. Halfway back Ed tried to lay a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but she simply shrugged it off and shook her head. It was obvious how much of a state of shock she was in.

When they did reach the apartments, Jordan moved toward a sunny patch of grass rather than heading straight back home. There she knelt down in the grass and gently set Blade aside, then clapped her hands and pressed them to the ground. The area glowed a brilliant blue from alchemical light, and when the light dimmed down a hole approximately four feet deep and four feet either way in length had been transmuted from the ground. In this Jordan gently laid Blade, and calmly transmuted the hole covered again.

Figuring that Jordan wished to be left alone, Ed started to turn to leave, going to head back into the apartment and leave Jordan alone as long as she wanted to be. He brushed his hand comfortingly against her shoulder one more time, as a last-ditch attempt to let her know he was leaving, but he was still up for comfort.

Jordan reached back and took his hand in hers to make him stop.

Edward stopped, turning back to face her, looking between her and their joined hands a few times. Her eyes clearly asked for him to stay, if only for another moment, although she said nothing herself. He looked at her for a minute, then knelt down next to her silently.

Jordan reached over and picked a small, plain flower from the ground to her side. She dropped it over the spot where Blade had been buried, then closed her eyes, clapped her hands, and touched the tips of her fingers to the dropped flower. Under the cover of the alchemic light the flower changed; when her transmutation was finished, a newer flower stood in its place, growing up from the grass. It had crooked, dainty petals, colored pink but with vibrant tips of deep purple. To Ed it seemed oddly familiar, although he couldn't place why.

When this was finished Jordan got to her feet and took a few steps away, toward the apartments, and then took off running. Surprised, Ed leaped up and ran after her, startled by her sudden movement from her melancholy state.

Jordan ran inside the apartment, and Ed followed, although he nearly had a head-on collision with his younger brother on the way.

"Brother, what's going on?" Al demanded, as Ed heard Jordan's door slam upstairs.

Ed took a deep breath. "She's upset," he said simply.

"Why? What happened? Did you two-"

"It's not my fault," Edward interrupted. "Blade . . . her cat got hit a little bit ago."

Al gasped. "How did that happen?"

"Careless driver," Ed said quickly. "But if you'll excuse me now, I want to see if she's okay." Without waiting for another word from Alphonse, Ed walked upstairs and stopped by Jordan's bedroom door.

Knocking twice, he asked, "Jordan, you okay?" He didn't get a response. "Come on, say something," he said gently and opened the door.

Jordan was sitting at her desk, arms crossed over the wooden surface and her head resting on top. She was staring at the wall, eyes glassy and unfocused, and it was unclear whether she even noticed Edward enter the room at all.

"Jordan . . . I'm sorry for what happened," Edward said quietly.

"Don't be. I'm the one who should be sorry," Jordan responded lowly. "It's not your fault, it's mine."

"How in the world is it your fault for what happened?" Ed asked in surprise.

"Because you were right," Jordan replied listlessly. She clenched her fists repeatedly, tears springing up in her eyes.

"About what?"

"About Blade getting himself killed!" Jordan shouted suddenly, slamming her hands on her desk. She jumped to her feet and whirled on Ed. "You told me early this afternoon that if I insisted on letting Blade follow me around everywhere, he would eventually get himself killed. You know what? You were right! I was a bloody idiot and let him romp around in the middle of Central, and then when I ran off chasing a fantasy he got hit by a car and died! It's my fault!"

Ed looked at Jordan; her chest was heaving and her fists were clenched at her sides, shaking in a mix of anger and extreme sadness. "Jordan, you can't pin this on yourself," he said firmly. "None of this has any blame on you. And think about it; you let him live much longer than he would have had you just left him on the streets of Central when you had found him."

"Yes it does!" Jordan protested, tears running down her cheeks now. "A cat is supposed to live at the very least a decade if he's healthy. Blade didn't even make a year because I didn't take any precautions whatsoever to keep him safe!" Her voice broke, and then she fell to her knees, covering her face in her hands.

Crying.

Edward stared at Jordan, hardly able to believe what he was seeing. She'd had such a calm demeanor all through the afternoon, and he'd never once before, in any situation, seen her shed a tear, let alone burst out crying like she was now. It was almost scary to see her reacting like this now.

Coolly, Ed took a couple of steps forward until he was standing right next to her, then kneeled down to her level. She looked up at him through her fingers, and then with no forward warning threw her arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder.

Ed nearly gasped in surprise, but luckily instinct took over before reason. He wrapped his arms around her and held her comfortingly, pointedly ignoring the warm tears seeping into his coat, gently rubbing her back with one hand.

He held her until her sobs began to subside, and for a little while after. At this point in time, if it brought her any measure of reassurance he was willing to do it.

"Ed, I'm sorry," Jordan mumbled quietly into his shoulder, clingling listlessly to his jacket.

"For what?"

"For this. Breaking down like this. I think you're right . . . maybe it wasn't my fault."

"It was only a freak accident. It doesn't make it any better, I know, but you need to realize that there was nothing you could do to stop it." Ed tilted his head to look down at his distressed friend.

Jordan pulled back and wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. "I know . . . I just . . . a lot's been happening the past few days, I guess, and I didn't even know what the hell was happening now."

Edward got to his feet and offered a hand to help Jordan up; gratefully she took it and stood. "I think you just need rest," said the blonde gently, nodding in the direction of her bed. "Too much has been happening and you just need to relax a bit."

Jordan actually managed a small smile. "You're right," she said with a nod. "Maybe that's just . . . "

Ed gave her a little nudge toward her bed. "Go on. You need the sleep."

Turning her eyes away from Ed, Jordan muttered, "Thanks Ed. For being here, anyway." She gave him a push toward the door as a less-than-subtle hint for him to leave, and then closed the door behind him quickly when he did, leaving him a little confused as to the meaning behind her parting remark.

"Thank you Ed," she whispered, leaning against the door for support. "I think I'd have just lost it otherwise."

* * *

_My god, I can't believe how long it took me to write this chapter. Seriously. _

_For those of you who might have had some tiny little thought that the song at the beginning of the chapter had some special significance, it does. I did a cover of that song awhile ago, and my buddy Rikdo Osaka put together an AMV for it awhile ago. He does the same for my other song covers as well, and he's been pretty supportive of me in what I do in other things. A big thanks to him for the support, particularly for putting up with me moaning and complaining about writing this chapter for a week and giving me ideas to get over my writer's block anyway! Woo!_

_Aaanyway, I'll bet all of you are anxiously waiting to see the results of our happy little fan art contest, aren't you? Well, I'm here to give them to you guys! Remember, you can see all the submissions if you go check out my profile! . . . and Ed is giving me that really impatient look, so I'll just get along and announce the winners. Eheheh . . ._

_Oh, by the way, I judged only on quality. Nothing to do with how well I knew the people, alrighty?_

_Okay, I got two fan fiction submissions and a handful of art submissions, and I really wanted to put a fan fiction entry in here, so I've got two art winners and one fan fiction winner, 'kay? Okay. _

_Our happy winners are . . . #insert drum roll here# _

_Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1 and Wandering Hitokiri in fan art, and Rikdo Osaka for fan fiction! Congratulations to you folks, and I'll be contacting ya'll regarding that prize one-shot soon! #insert applause# Everybody make sure to drop them a congratulations and go see their submissions. :3_

_Alright, now that that excitement is over, I eagerly await your reviews, everybody! _


	34. Ill Will

_Holy snapfizzle, don't kill me! O.O I am so sorry for the lack of updating for well over a month. You guys know I always take a break for about a week before I start writing the new chapter, but since I promised the one-shot for the contest winners (EPIC FAIL, I've barely got any done), I wanted to work on that. Then I got major writer's block for, like, two weeks, but I didn't want to start on this because I felt I'd forget the one-shot, but I need to get a chapter up to keep people entertained. #sigh# Don't shoot me, m'kay?_

_And stop crying over Blade! DX I feel all guilty now because I'm sort of happy I made you guys upset . . . 'cause that means my writing is getting better and I've really hit home with some of you._

Dawn's Twilight: Heheh . . . yeah, I'm such a fan-girl that feelings are inevitable. X3 I'm actually surprised that you're happy about it. I'm expecting a lot of groans right about now for it . . . but if people are happy then I have no complaints!

Ed: Save me. Now.

Shush.

Lee Totema: Oh, you weren't supposed to cry over Blade's death! ;-; Now I'm all sad. I'm sorry. But at least I know I can evoke feelings of sadness with my writing . . . I'm getting better.

Envy: She's a sadist. :'D

I am not- well . . . Get out of here!

Caspercat22: Aww, somebody else broken up over the last chapter. I'm sorry. I'm glad you liked it anyway, though. :) Sorry for your kitties, though . . .

DESTROY-THE-HORMONES: Eheheh . . . yeah. Ed got hugged last chapter, didn't beat the crud out of her. That's for . . . reasons. . . of fan fiction territory . . . mmyes, that's it.

Ed: Against my will.

Keep quiet. Anyway, no, I don't think Jordan wants your sister's cat. She'll do fine without.

Kisa44: Thank you. X3 I didn't follow through well on the "update soon" but I'm glad the chapter was good.

Your Favourite Plushie: Your name keeps making me think I'm being talked to by the imaginary Ed plushie that I want so much . . . #sigh# ANYWAY. Glad you liked the chapter, and if you want to see what happens next, scroll down a little. :3

Undead-Poptart: Yeah, I killed off Blade. He was your favorite character, though? Interesting. I'm sorry. (I wondered how many people thought he was Envy for awhile . . . .) Anyway, though I didn't follow through on the "update soon" I'm glad you liked that chapter.

Envy: I wouldn't follow that chick as a cat for several months . . .

Nohaydeque: Ha, well thank you. I know when I started this story I was a bit of a newb to FMA, and I just wanted to write something cool. A little over a year later I look back on that and think the same thing; such a cliche. But, I'm glad to see you like it so much. Means I've improved, which means a lot to hear from other people. :3

Ruroni Angel: Yush . . . I killed Blade . . . I'm sorry. Well, okay, technically a driver killed him, but my author's mind put that together. And I'm confusing myself. Anyway, glad you liked the chapter. X3

Moonlight Hitokiri: It's okay for not reviewing, I forgive you. :P Kinda good and kinda scary that Blade's death made you review again. Means it was actually shocking to you. Amazing. No, nothing like that had happened to me when I wrote it. I've just been planning his death for . . . a few months now. Anyway, glad you liked the chapter!

Coolkat and Roookie: Yesh, poor Blade. I'm happy you liked the chapter, though!

Ed: Everybody is so darn upset about the _cat_ . . . .

Mew Sarin Alchemist: I sure as heck did not plan my chapter to have timing with that incident! O.O That is bad coincidental timing.

Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1: Yup, story-wise, I did sorta forget about the hindrance known as Jordan's cast. I suck at details. Plus, I've never broken a bone before, so I'm not too good with experience. Probably tweak it if I ever find time. Anyway, glad you liked the chapter, etc. . . .

Akatsuki Hoshiko: Nyah, now I'm kind of proud to see the many ways in which my writing can torture people. :3 You're lucky you started reading this right before an imminent chapter update, or you would have had to wait about a month and a half like everybody else to see what happens later. X3

Ed: Wait, no, not her! Not Hosh! Augh, get her off the site!

Heh. Ed's not terribly ecstatic to have you along for the ride now. Anyway, damning me to hell may make it more difficult for me to continue writing . . .

Purple Ghost Sausage: Aw, you don't have to draw anything. :3 I'm sorry that you miss Blade, though. Everybody misses the kitty cat. :[

Knightlygirl: Aw, I'm glad you love my story so much. Makes me happy. :)

**Syl: Yay . . . new chapter . . . woo . . . **

**_Syl seems a bit . . . er, preoccupied. At this time she lays upside-down on the couch, holding a shiny new black Nintendo DS Lite. _**

**Ed: We have so lost her. **

**Syl: Have not . . . **

**Al: Why?**

**Ed: Since she got that DS for Christmas, along with a copy each of _Phantom Hourglass_ and _Final Fantasy XII,_ she's pretty much been playing non-stop. Mostly on Zelda. It's no wonder she hasn't gotten any work done over Winter Break. **

**Syl: Hey, sneaking around the forces of darkness when you're being tailed by a stupid little girl who screams and gives away your position every time she sees a spider is work and very time-consuming!**

**_A rather awkward silence follows._**

**Ed: Sure. **

**Al: Anyway, where's that lawyer guy at? Shouldn't he be here too?**

**Syl: I'm assuming he ran off with my $120 and is living it up somewhere. **

**Ed: Syl, you spent that on a copy of _Guitar Hero III _and had about fifteen bucks left over. Which is another reason you haven't been working . . . playing for three hours straight on a medium level and then wondering why your fret wrist hurts. **

**Syl: . . . Well, if he's gone and killed himself I have no complaints. He thought it'd be funny to stuff my Christmas stocking with papers to disclaim ownership to _Fullmetal Alchemist_ and everything involved in this story but myself. **

**Ed: . . .**

**Syl: I did it again, didn't I?**

**Al: Yup. **

**Syl: Crud.**

* * *

_So . . . the last couple pages of my journal, huh? Heh. I'm suprised it's lasted me so long, really. I remember buying this old thing so I could keep track of my adventures in Amestris, detailing everything that happened on my 'endless quest' to return home. So far that hasn't worked out so well after all. _

The quill stopped scratching; nothing but uncomfortable silence remained when the sound ceased. Normally this void would have been filled by the warm purring of a young black cat, but not now. It was odd; only a week later and it seemed like he'd never been there to start with.

_Looking back on what I've written, I feel . . . well, I feel guilty. I've had so many secrets that I've written in here, enough for quite a confession if I could ever bring myself to say anything to Ed and Al. And that's the sad thing. I wish I could. But they wouldn't believe me, now would they? "Oh, yes, by the way, I'm some random chick who follows your life story in an alternate universe where this shouldn't exist at all!" I hate lying to my friends, but I haven't been able to say anything for a year._

_Wow . . . that's right, it has been almost a year. I came to Amestris at the end of December or so and it's mid-December now . . . . that's a scary thought. One year of trying to return home and no luck. It's feels kind of hopeless. Is this what Ed and Al feel like? Always finding new hope only to have it snatched away upon realizing the truth in a dead end? I never realized. _

Jordan sighed lightly, lifting her favorite writing quill up to the sunlight streaming through her bedroom window; the light reflected off the black feather and made it shine a brilliant green. Things she had to do today . . . re-dye that white stripe in her hair after work, put away a half-dozen books Ed and Al most likely left in the Central library by accident that nobody else would deal with, do the dishes, fix a ripped seam in her uniform, think of a new insulting saying to put on her black shirt under her jacket, get the bandaging off her arm because it turned out it wasn't nearly as bad as the doctor had originally thought . . . .

Oh, who cared, she mused to herself as she returned to her writing, humming a soft melody to break the quiet air of her room that Blade no longer kept at bay for her.

_Coming back now, looking back on the past year I've spent in Amestris, I never realized how much could change in just one year. I mean, I thought things were different after nine months of school, but spending a full calender year in a whole other world is a way different experience. Like . . . alchemy. I've learned more on this subject than I think was ever possible before. It's almost like my entire field of expertise nowadays; whereas I used to know a little about everything, I can now make almost anything relate to alchemy in some form if I give it half a thought. _

_Then I guess there's my hair; that was a huge change. At least it's starting to grow back now, although that makes it even _more_ difficult to pin up for my uniform. Stupid Colonel tends to notice when there's a shoulder-length curl falling out of my clip._

_Another, though, is how much a secret can eat away at you. How much do I wish I could tell Ed and Al (particularly Ed, for some reason) where I come from? If there was just some way I could tell them, get them to believe me without shattering the trust I've gained, I would do it in a heartbeat. Tell them how I'm not from Amestris, how I'm really from where I am, explain everything I know and open their eyes to another world like they have mine with theirs . . . show them who I really am, instead of hiding and giving them a false story. It almost scares me how they haven't even _asked _about my past before. I mean, I'm a fourteen-year-old wandering around on her own, a state alchemist who was pressed into service after being _arrested_. It actually makes me feel guiltier; it's as if they trust me so much that they couldn't care less, and here I am, continuing to feed them lies. _

_And, one last point where I know I've definitely changed over the last year. _

At this point Jordan paused, thoughtfully chewing delicately at the end of her quill. Did she really want to admit what she was about to in writing, or was this just one of those things meant to be locked up in the safety of her own mind?

When the quill touched down to the paper again, that decision was obviously made.

_I think . . . well, flat out, I think I like Ed. And I don't mean like a friend, and most certainly not like a brother. Beyond that. It's the weirdest thing in the world, it really is. It's completely different from anything I've felt for anybody else before, and it's confusing the hell out of me. I just . . . I don't know, I feel a lot different about him than feels safe. And I wonder how much of this I don't want to confess. I guess it's hard to admit, even just to myself, because I know it'll be that much more difficult when I do -if I do- get a way back home, and I don't want it to be like that. Gah, such a pain. . . that's the other thing I wish I could tell him, but come on. I'm a freak as is. Let's not overdo it already._

_Maybe I'm just stupid. Who knows. All I know is one year has left me confused, guilty, angry, and wondering. _

As Jordan signed the date at the end of her page, the end of that journal entirely, she gradually became aware of the blush that had begun heating her cheeks as she wrote her last few lines. She was ashamed to admit such a thing even to herself. Over her life she'd become, in a sense, proud of her resistance to the male gender in comparison to girls falling head-over-heels left and right, but obviously this shattered that one to pieces in an instant.

The girl was snapped out of her reverie by several brisk knocks at the door.

"Jordan, c'mon! You're going to be late, aren't you?"

"Uhh . . . I'm sick, go away?" Jordan suggested; Edward was the one at the door, warning her that she needed to leave for the headquarters soon.

"Sure. But I'm not taking the heat for you if Mustang wants to know where you are," Ed replied blankly.

"No, no, I'm up. I'll be down in a couple, okay? I'm just moving kind of slow." In reality, Jordan didn't care too much whether she went in a couple of minutes late or not.

"And I thought you were the resident 'morning person' of the house . . . ." Edward trailed off as he left again.

Jordan rolled her eyes lightly. "Sorry I've been up since five this morning," she muttered sourly, knowing full well that the retreating blonde alchemist wouldn't hear her. Her stomach hadn't been feeling well and kept her up for the last three and a half hours, prompting her to sit down and write out her last 'little' confession in the remaining couple pages of her journal.

Rereading the last paragraph again, she frowned in disgust and shoved her journal, along with her quill and ink bottle, away. What was she thinking? It all sounded so lame when she put it down on paper.

A glance at the clock confirmed the fears Ed had placed in her mind. It was already eight-thirty and she hadn't even showered yet.

"Crap . . . I've been up almost four hours and I haven't even taken a shower," Jordan moaned. Today she did _not_ want to go to headquarters, even more so than usual, just to be complained at for eight hours by the colonel; she didn't feel good. But, if she didn't go now, she'd be late and she'd be complained at even more than she would otherwise, and simply feeling a little ill wasn't a good enough excuse for him, so it's just be simpler to get up and go.

However, when she slunk downstairs about ten minutes later, lethargically buttoning her uniform coat and walking straight past the fridge without stopping to look for breakfast, she earned a couple of concerned looks from the oldest of the Elric brothers.

"Jordan, are you okay?" Ed asked, stopping her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?" Jordan asked, raising a brow.

"You've never tried to leave without eating something first, no matter how late you are," Ed replied, frowning slightly.

"I'm not hungry," Jordan mumbled, turning back toward the door to leave. "I know the concept of not feeling hungry in the morning is foreign to you, but I'm not."

Ed gave her a specific 'look' and raised his left hand to her forehead, feeling for a temperature. Jordan gave him a blank stare, pushing her tongue into her cheek in a sure sign of "this is pointless" thoughts.

"I'm not sick," Jordan said simply. "May I leave now, before I get into trouble?"

"You're acting like it," Edward said in response, taking his hand back. "And you're really pale."

"I'm just tired. I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep."

"You're a very bad liar."

"What is this, an interview? Come on, I need to go." Jordan gently pushed him away and flashed him a smile; all in good fun. "I promise you that I am perfectly fine, alright? And even if I were sick, I could take care of myself. It's okay. You're worrying way too much about me."

Edward sighed and crossed his arms. "Fine. I have no good reason to believe you, but fine."

Jordan smirked and ruffled his hair. "Good. Now, I am off, don't burn the place down, see ya." With that she promptly left, Ed looking after her with a sort of confused expression on his features. His confusion increased when he saw her stumble by the front door, as if dizzy, but before he could say anything else she'd already gone.

--------------------

"My god . . . is it even possible for these people to produce _this_ much paper? Augh, they _have_ to have somebody better than a _state alchemist_ to freakin' do this job!" Jordan angrily slammed a hand against the side of a gray filing cabinet before immediately regretting the action; since that morning, she'd begun feeling worse, her stomach turning over even at the smell of Mustang's morning coffee, and any sudden movement made it worse. Several times she'd considered going home early, but she knew that if she did, whatever didn't get finished today would just pile up for tomorrow.

Her current job entitled her to sitting in the records room, filing. That was it, simpy filing mountains of papers and folders that various officers brought in. It was as if they all _knew_ there was a sick-feeling state alchemist running the records that day; Jordan couldn't recall ever seeing so many officers need something found or filed on any given day, or any given three days for that matter.

The fact that she couldn't move at more than half her usual speed wasn't exactly helping how much the papers piled up.

"Uhnn . . . I wanna go hooome," Jordan whined, leaning against the filing cabinet she'd just hit. "Stupid Mustang . . . stupid papers, stupid filing, stupid officers bringing in all this stupid crap, stupid-"

"Um, Major?"

Jordan's rant was cut a little short when another female officer stepped into the records room, resting one hand on the door frame. She looked almost a little nervous, addressing somebody of higher rank but much younger age than she.

"What?" Jordan asked, not sounding the least bit interested at all. "I'm busy."

"Colonel Mustang requests that you, er, find somebody named 'Fullmetal' and bring him with you to meet in his office," said the young woman. Her voice had a rather irritating pitch to it; she sounded more like she belonged in the kitchen rather than being ranked among soldiers, as much as Jordan disliked to think in such a manner.

The 'major' rolled her eyes to herself, holding back a wave of snippy remarks she could have unleashed right then. "Alright, thanks, be dismissed," Jordan said bluntly, waving a hand over her shoulder as she picked up another folder. "I'll be out up there in a few minutes." Mentally she added a few things she'd rather do that didn't involve talking to the colonel if she was forced to his office.

As the uniformed woman left once more, Jordan looked disdainfully at the three or four six-inch stacks of papers and folders that she still needed to file. She was on a sort of roll with this; as much as she hated the job, it'd become such a mundane procedure that she didn't really have to think and got things done pretty smoothly. If she stopped now, it'd take her awhile to find that same rhythm again, not to mention she'd want to do it even less.

Jordan checked the time on her pocket watch, noting the time of a little past noon, before she rested her head against another filing cabinet, closing her eyes. Just a couple minutes . . . she'd go find Edward after a couple minutes.

The next thing Jordan realized, somebody was shaking her by the shoulder and rather rudely calling her name repeatedly.

"Wha . . . ?" Jordan opened one eye to see Edward giving her a disdainful look, Al standing behind him and looking on in wonder.

"I think you're sick," Ed said flatly. "You passed out on the cabinet." He made a small gesture at the filing cabinet Jordan was leaning on, with her glasses askew and pressing red marks into the side of her nose.

"Crap . . . how long, any ideas?" Jordan asked, forgetting to protest the 'sick' comment. "The colonel sent somebody to tell me to find you and meet in his office about something or another."

"I don't know, five or ten minutes. Why's it matter? You should get back home rather than worrying about the colonel."

Jordan sat up and rubbed her eyes tiredly, clicking open her watch and glancing at the time. "About ten minutes . . . well, at least I don't have to find you."

"You really don't look good, Jordan," Al protested. "You seriously look ill."

"I'm not. I'm tired, yes, but that's because, like I told you, I woke up really early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. I'm not sick. I'll be fine." Even as she said this her stomach turned over again; how long was she going to be able to keep up this charade, she wondered.

"No, he's right," Ed put in as Jordan stood, a little unsteadily. "You're still really pale, and obviously you can't stand very well."

By this point Jordan was starting to get a little annoyed. "I'm _fine_," she said through gritted teeth, swallowing down the sick feeling. "Now come on. Mustang's not going to be in a good mood as is." Roughly she pushed past Ed and Al into the hallway, trying not to show how bad she actually felt. The last thing she needed was them worrying over her.

She did, however, miss the doubtful glances that the Elric brothers exchanged behind her back before following after her.

"So any luck yet?" she asked curiously as they walked down the hall to Mustang's office. "You guys have been spending practically day and night in that library lately."

Edward shook his head slightly. "No, not much."

"A lot of books we find only briefly mention anything about the Philosopher's Stone, and then say that it's only a myth," Al added in.

"Oh . . . wish I could help," Jordan said with an attempt at a half-smile.

"But we've said before-"

"-Not to get involved, I _know_," Jordan interrupted, finishing Ed's statement before he could. "I'm just saying, I don't like being on the sidelines while you guys work so hard to find nothing. I kinda know what that feels like and I just wish there was some way that I could help you guys find what you're looking for. I hate watching friends get no results despite all the hard work they've done to earn it."

Ed gave her a strange look; something of a cross between understanding, wonder, and suspicion all at once. He didn't question what she meant, but his expression surely did. However, he didn't have much time to wonder when he and Jordan stood in Mustang's office a minute or so later.

After the necessary 'irritated' speech Jordan was given by the colonel for being later than he'd wanted her to -which Jordan simply sat through with a blank, almost pained look on her face-, Mustang beckoned them to his desk and laid out a map of Central across its surface.

"According to you, Scar was first seen here," he began, looking up at Jordan before gesturing to a spot downtown on the map. "Luckily he hadn't managed to kill you."

Edward gave her another concerned look; he didn't really like remembering that particular night.

"That was eight days ago," Jordan put in. She was starting to sound weak, she noticed, and coughed to clear her throat.

Mustang nodded. "Since then he's only been seen once or twice, but that means he's still around. We've got most of the Central alchemists . . . ."

Whatever the colonel was saying faded off in Jordan's mind. The only thing she was aware of was soon how awful she felt, and she was concerned that the worst thing possible to happen right now was going to happen. She took a deep breath. Maybe if she kept quiet and didn't move, the horrible feeling would go away . . . .

". . . and that should about cover this area. Lightning?"

"Huh?" Jordan looked up, snapped back to attention unwillingly.

"You need to follow this also. Right now, seeing as you were the one who was attacked first, you're among our top priorities."

"Right . . . sorry," Jordan said softly, too weak to protest. She crossed one arm over her stomach and rested her forehead on the tips of the fingers of her other hand, willing herself to feel better. "I'm listening."

Colonel Mustang raised one dark brow at her before turning his attention back to his map. "Anyway, because of that, we'll probably spend a day or two combing this area while we send out warnings to the other headquarters, and we-

Jordan's stomach lurched one more time, then before she could even make a comment to ask to leave, she had promptly thrown up on the floor of the colonel's office.

Ed recoiled almost instantly, while Mustang simply closed his eyes, wincing at this. Lieutenant Hawkeye, on the other hand, had motherly instincts that kicked in near immediately. She coolly moved from her post by Roy's desk and ushered a now coughing Jordan out of the office.

"Well . . . it appears that she'll be going home and that I'll be moving to a new office for the rest of the day," Mustang said simply, gathering up some work from his desk and leaving. As Edward tailed after him, more than eager to leave as well, he added, "And I'm sure you'll be heading home as well to take care of her."

"What?" Edward blanched, looking up at the colonel incredulously. "Are you kidding? Al and I have been doing a lot of work, not to mention Scar still being on the loose! Jordan can take care of herself, she'll be-"

"It's incredibly impolite to tell a young woman to take care of herself when she's ill," interrupted the colonel. "Alphonse can stay here and continue your work. In fact, it's an order. Go home with her and make sure she gets well." There was a sort of triumphant glimmer in his eyes that Ed didn't like in the slightest, not to mention the slight smirk that tugged at the older man's lips.

The blonde glared at Roy for a moment before scowling and looking away. "Fine, I'll go," he mumbled.

"Excellent. Now, good day," said Mustang, flat-out smirking before he walked off, leaving a confused-looking Edward staring after him. With a sigh, Ed turned back to look at Al, who was walking after him and wondering what was going on; after all, seeing his friend running our with Hawkeye just a minute prior was a little unnerving.

"Al, I've gotta head home with Jordan," Ed explained in dismay. "She's actually really sick after all, and Colonel demands that I go home with her and take care of her. You can stay here to keep going on our research, but it's now an _order_ that I make sure she's okay."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come back too?" Al asked.

"It's not a big deal. Colonel just doesn't want me around, I guess," Edward sighed. "Either way, I've got to go. Are you going to stay here or come with me?"

"I might as well stay," the armor-bodied brother admitted.

"Alright. Well, I'll see you tonight then," Edward said as the two parted ways.

Edward went out to the front of the headquarters building to wait for Jordan, who he knew would be coming out shortly. He was a little worried. He disliked seeing anybody ill, let alone one of his close friends. Not to mention it was probably going to be awkward being home alone with her . . . .

"Ed? What're you doing out here?" Jordan's voice snapped him from his thoughts. He looked over to see her walking from the front doors, her uniform jacket slung over her shoulder and her hair falling loose from her bun. Suddenly she looked more tired than she had before being sick in Mustang's office. "I thought you'd go back to work with Al . . . ."

The blonde alchemist shook his head lightly. "No. Colonel Mustang has actually ordered me to accompany you home and 'take care of you'," he replied bitterly.

"What? I think I can take care of myself."

"That's what I said."

"Then why is he making you come home with me?"

"I don't know. He said it was 'incredibly rude to tell a young lady to take care of herself' or something like that."

"Uh . . . huh. Well, I'm going to beat him if he ever refers to me as a 'young lady' ever again, for one, and also I think it's ridiculous that he thinks I can't take care of myself. It's just a simple bout of the stomach flu and I'll be over it by morning." Jordan scowled; this made her look even more exhausted. "Well, whatever. I was already sick in public once, I'd like to get home before I do it again."

Ed nodded once. "Alright, but I have to commend you for your timing."

Jordan stuck her tongue out at him. "My puking isn't supposed to give you entertainment."

"It didn't, but the fact it was Mustang's office . . . ."

* * *

_Alright. This chapter was originally going to be longer and less of a pathetic filler chapter, but unfortunately I can't think of a way to contine this without making it so long that I drag it on and then cut the ending short like I have a bad habit of doing. #sigh# So, live with this. I'll do my best to get the next one up soon, m'kay? _

_M'kay. _

_Review please! _:3


	35. Secrets

_Hmm . . . don't have a heck of a lot to say here. _

_Except I'm sorry for taking so long to update again. #cries and smashes her head into the wall repeatedly# Strange that it was while listening to "The Ultimate Showdown" that I was inspired to write again. _

_This is the Ultimate Showdown, of ultimate destiny!_

_Good guys, bad guys and explosions, as far as the eye can see . . . I'll stop singing now. Go read. _

Nakori Elvenborn: Mustang, get over it, it was funny. X3 Thanks.

Mustang: You sick, evil author . . .

Oh come on, not like you don't have janitors.

Dawn's Twilight: Ah, yes, but Ed's stupidity is one of the many reasons we love him. X3

Ed: -.-'

Anyway. In any case, Ed's there now, and it should all be good . . . mwahaha . . .

Celedeen Takarona: I loved writing the end. I did toy with the idea of her being sick _on_ Mustang-

Mustang: O.O

-but I decided against it. The timing for in the office was good enough. Glad ya like it, despite the filler . . . y . . . ness . . . of it.

Yeah.

Liah Cauthon: Sorry, didn't mean to make you feel sick too. :(

Ruroni Angel: Nah, I wasn't sick when I wrote that. Just had that idea for awhile. Anyway, glad you liked the timing, etc., etc. . .

Kagami no Renkinjutsushi: Oh, she'll get better, and then some . . . in some sort of bizarre sense. #snerk#

Wandering Hitokiri: X3 Yeah, I was hoping that would come across as hysterical. Guess it worked. Thanks!

Akatsuki Hoshiko: Well . . . yeah. I'm sure Envy won't quite come into play right here, but people who role-play a lot with me notice I do tend to re-use ideas like that one. X3

Ed: Let's not . . .

Heh. Anyway, glad ya liked it, etc.

DESTROY THE HORMONES: No kidding. I get a stomach virus every year, too. Totally sucks. At least I stopped getting it on holidays . . . hm. Anyway, I actually did tinker with the idea of having her throw up on Mustang. Would've completed my life as well, but in the end it just seemed better to have it in the office. X3

Mustang: DX

Kisa44: But I wind up going more than three weeks without updating . . . bleh. Stop complaining, I shall. Glad you liked it and stuffs.

Eloquent Liar: Poor Blade indeed. . . well, thank you:)

A Falling Angel: Hi, yes, I remember you. X3 'Tis okay if you haven't been around in awhile. With all these people thinking it would have been better to have Jordan be sick on Mustang, I'm starting to think I should've. X3 And yeah, she did admit feelings for Ed. A little more progression is good! Woo! Apology accepted, and thanks!

Coolkat and Roookie: Just the sort of thing to annoy Mustang indeed. :3 Thanks!

Airheaded Evilness: #whimper# I don't want to be hunted down . . . and I killed off Blade because it would be dramatic . . . and my lawyer had better not run off again . . .

Kyasarin-Maarukeehii: Aw, I wouldn't kill ya. 3

Envy: Why not?

Shush. Anyway. I'm sure Jordan will be plenty strong for her illness. :P I'm sure it won't be too hard anyway . . . #cough# Heh. Glad to have ya back around, though.

Reader Ninja: Aw, you weren't supposed to cry for Blaaade. T-T I get all depressed too, ya know! Anyway, I'm doin' my best to update quickly. Glad ya like!

_**Lots of shouting can be heard at this time. Syl and the lawyer are on opposite ends of a table, shouting at each other with papers strewn about. It almost seems like an arranged argument.**_

**Al: Brother, what are they doing?**

**Ed: I think it's a debate. **

**Al: A what?**

_**At this point they are interrupted as the debate grows a little louder.**_

**Syl: And I'm telling you, during the time span of ten years between 1989 and 1999, while television stations lowered their standards, youth crime actually dropped thirty percent! More proof that media does not cause violence in youth!**

**Lawyer: But younger children are easily impressionable by what they see or hear!**

**Syl: Oh come on, even a documentary has more effect on kids than a cartoon does! Real life is more of a factor in violence than the media!**

**Ed: They're arguing over whether the media causes violence or not as practice for Syl's debate for her language arts class. Lawyer guy decided to help in that. **

**Al: Doesn't sound like it was a good idea . . . **

**Ed: Since Syl spends so much time watching anime and playing video games, she's very much into her side of the argument. **

**Lawyer: It is also true that you do not have any claim to _Fullmetal Alchemist_ or anything otherwise not written by you, as quoted many a time by yourself!**

**Syl: OBJECTION! #points dramatically at the lawyer# That statement has nothing to do with the current debate and I ask that you remain on the subject!**

**Ed: Overruled!**

**Syl: You stay out of this! 

* * *

**

"So what happened to this being a simple illness that would be gone by morning?"

"You'd best learn how to shut the hell up, because I am not in the mood for your low brand of sarcasm."

"Yes, because I fear you so much right now."

"Uhnn . . ." Jordan slumped against her pillows again, glaring at the ceiling. Since the day before her illness had gotten no better. She couldn't sleep for more than an hour before having to get up and bolt into the bathroom to retch whatever Ed had persuaded her to eat in the meantime. After the first couple times she'd quite literally said "screw it" and refused to eat in the last twelve hours at least, but that didn't stop her from being sick anyway.

"Today suuucks," she moaned pathetically, closing her eyes and clenching a fistful of her heavy blanket. "It sucks so much . . ."

Ed gave her a sympathetic look. Even today he'd chosen to stay home to make sure Jordan would be alright; Al, as a result, had already left to go to one of the public libraries in Central to continue their research. The male kept telling himself that the only reason he'd willingly stayed with Jordan was because the colonel would most likely, with his sense of humor, send Ed straight back if he turned up at the headquarters, but he wasn't too sure by this point. While the fact that she was sick was a huge downside, he sort of liked it just being them alone. He rather enjoyed it actually.

"I'm sorry," Edward replied with a slight shrug. He'd really been doing all he could, which wasn't much because Jordan had already threatened that she didn't want a lot of help and too much would result in a boot to the head.

"Did you give me the virus?"

"No . . ."

"Then don't be sorry."

Edward rolled his eyes, wondering how such an ill girl could still manage to be so sarcastic. "Anyway, can I help you at all? I'm staying home the whole day, so . . ."

"Not really. Every time you've convinced me to eat it's just made me sicker, and everything else I can take care of on my own," Jordan sighed, turning onto her side and pulling her blanket up to her chin. "Just let me sleep . . ."

"Alright," Ed replied gently. "I'll be downstairs if you need something, okay?" When Jordan nodded to show that she heard him, he gave her a light smile and started downstairs.

On the lower floor, Edward retreated to the living room, where a small set of notes and a couple of alchemy books were laying on the table. The books, in fact, belonged to Jordan, but she'd given them to him so he at least try to get a little research done while he stayed home. The books weren't much, but it at least allowed him to make an attempt.

After an hour or so of reading that brought up no results, Edward set down his pencil and sighed. Nothing. He didn't exactly expect to find anything, granted, but it still would've been nice to find a hint.

Now how to spend the rest of the day . . .

"Hey Ed? Move over, I wanna lay there."

Ed looked over his shoulder to see Jordan standing there, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She seemed a little better than when he'd seen her earlier, which was a good sign. The girl still looked tired, but more energetic than before.

"What are you doing down here?"

"My room's too quiet. I wanna lay on the couch. Move to the chair."

Ignoring the demand, Ed just raised a brow. "Wouldn't you be better off where it's quiet?" he asked. "Instead of getting up and walking around just to get downstairs?"

Jordan frowned slightly. "I can't sleep if it's too quiet," she said. "I know it's weird but it's true. Besides that, I'm doing better. It's been two or three hours since the last time I was sick, in comparison to the typical half-hour, so I think it's about over. I can handle walking down a dozen stairs as a result. Mooove."

Rolling his eyes, Ed obliged the command and stood up, moving to the chair as previously directed. Jordan smiled softly at him as she sat down where he'd been, shifting into a laying position.

"Thanks," she murmured, pulling her blanket over herself and curling up underneath the heavy flannel. In return she earned herself a small smile back from Ed as she closed her eyes. In actuality, she could've slept just fine in her bedroom, but she kind of wanted just to have his company. It would've sounded weirder if she'd asked him to stay in her room with her, though, so it was just simpler to come downstairs.

Besides that, the couch was rather comfortable anyway.

As the day progressed into early evening, it was clear that Jordan's stomach illness was over, though she was still weak and tired in whatever she did. After a few more hours' worth of sleep, she was much more energetic, nearly her old self again. Her face was still a little bit pale and her movements still a little sluggish, but she'd be perfectly up again by the next morning, that much was obvious.

"Too bad there is absolutely nothing in this apartment that I trust myself enough to eat," Jordan lamented, digging through everywhere in the kitchen for something edible that wasn't dry toast.

"Well, you've been okay since this morning, you should be able to eat something," Edward said, blankly watching her as she went back to cabinets that she'd searched four times already.

"Meh, eating sounds like a stupid idea anyway," Jordan said, sticking out her tongue and sitting down at the kitchen table, opposite of Ed. Absently she picked up one of the notes scattered on the polished wooden surface. She'd brought her journal and notes downstairs in order to work. Ed was surprised she even considered working in her condition.

"Is that possible?" Ed asked, actually sounding a bit disbelieving.

"Just because you have a stomach bigger than you doesn't mean everybody else can't stop thinking about food," Jordan retorted, smirking softly at the expression that crossed Ed's face as a result. By now, she probably just lived to anger him.

"Yeah, yeah . . ."

Jordan laughed a little bit and stood up again. "Well, I'm taking a shower. Haven't had one since yesterday morning and I want to be clean now that I'm not really sick anymore. Try not to burn the apartment down in the ten minutes I'll be gone, okay?

Ed pouted at her as she laughed and disappeared upstairs. It was so irritating the way she treated him like a child all the time . . .

Setting his hand down on the table, he felt a paper rustle underneath. Again lifting his hand and hoping he didn't touch something he wasn't supposed to, he saw a couple pages falling out of the back of Jordan's journal, which he'd just about pulled out resting on them.

"Whoops, those go back," he said, lifting a brow and slipping them out of the black cover, picking up the journal to put them back in. It was unintentional (after all, he tried not to read things that were supposed to remain private), but something caught his eye. He saw his name, and Al's too, and his eyes strayed down another sentence.

The word "secret" leaped out at him from the yellow notebook page.

* * *

"Ah . . . I love a good hot shower, especially after I've been so sick," Jordan sighed contently, turning off the water and wringing out her soaking hair. It had gotten longer, she noted; whereas when it was first cut it barely went past her ears, it now tickled an inch or two past her shoulders.

It was amazing the things she noticed sometimes.

Drying and dressing quickly, Jordan glanced at her reflection in the mirror, wiping away a circular portal of steam in order to see better. Oh yeah, her appearance was much better after that. She was no longer a sickly pale, looking much like her old self again.

The content teenager took up her towel and started out of the bathroom, slinging the damp towel over her arm.

"What does this mean?" Ed demanded as soon as she opened the door, shoving a piece of yellow paper in her face.

"It means I'm about to kick your ass, going through my journal and giving me a heart attack after a happy shower," Jordan said pleasantly, draping her towel over the top of her head and rubbing it over her head. She had a rather irritating grin on her face after she recovered from her shock.

Ed's expression was nowhere near as cheery; if anything, he appeared angry. "I'm serious Jordan, what is this all supposed to mean?" he persisted coldly, continuing to push the paper at her.

"You probably can't understand it because all my alchemy notes are chicken-scratch. Not even I understand them sometimes," Jordan chuckled, continuing to dry her hair.

The blonde was beginning to become extremely irritated. "Knock it off! Quit playing like an idiot and answer me!" he shouted, clenching his teeth in anger and crinkling the paper in his fingers.

"Sheesh Ed, no need to yell," Jordan said, leaning forward a little bit to read the paper he held. She still didn't know what he was screaming about and it was getting on her nerves.

"Is this true?" Edward asked quietly as Jordan proceeded to read. He gaged her reaction carefully. As she went down the page, her eyes widened slowly, and her lips parted ever so slightly in surprise. She began to shake, letting her towel slip from her hands and slither to the floor in a heap of heavy, wet cloth.

"Oh my god," she whispered. "You . . . you were never supposed to read _any_ of that . . ." Ed was holding to her face one of the pages of her last journal entry, detailing her long confession. Only one page was in his hands, the other page or so left downstairs, but it was clear that he had read more than enough.

"What is all this about?" Ed demanded lowly, lowering the paper and crunching it in his fist. "What have you been hiding from us all this time?" Now his tone sounded less angry and more . . . hurt. He'd placed a lot of faith, maybe more, in this friend over time and now it just seemed all in vain.

"I-I can't . . . I couldn't explain it in a million years," Jordan replied feebly.

"Try! Or is that below you now?"

Jordan's words caught in her throat. She couldn't answer to Ed's demands. There wasn't any way she could explain it to him.

"Well? I'm waiting."

She straightened up and picked up her towel. A calm looked passed over her face.

"Come with me," she murmured, starting off toward her bedroom. Confused and still upset, Ed followed her.

In the room, Jordan took a stack of plain paper and her bottle of black writing off her desk, sitting down and setting the materials in the middle of her bed. Ed simply stood and watched as Jordan unscrewed the top of the ink bottle and dumped the watery contents over the paper. Ink splattered over the blanket and her front, even speckling her face, though she didn't notice the little black dots. When the bottle was empty, she clapped her hands and touched them gingerly to the ink-soaked paper. Under the sapphire light of an alchemical transmutation, the paper and ink merged together. When she was finished, Jordan picked up what was left.

A book.

The cover, which was actually backwards in comparison to a regular book, had the words "Fullmetal Alchemist" displayed proudly at the top in red and silver metal letters. There was a painted picture of Edward and Alphonse underneath the lettering, and the back had a description of another point early on in their lives. Jordan handed the book to Ed.

"Where I'm from, this is all fake," she said bluntly, softly, as Ed stared at the book in disbelief. "Your name is known only as a comic, a show. I don't know how, I don't know why, but I somehow crossed worlds and I wound up in a world that was only supposed to be fantasy."

Ed started to open the book. Jordan immediately stopped him, placing her hand over his. "Other way," she said, gently shifting his hands and the book to open it to read from the right instead of the left. "It reads backwards. This little book started everything. The artist continued drawing and writing from this one book, and someone made a show out of it and everything. Here, you're famous for your exploits. From my little screwed-up dimension, you're famous because we read and watch them."

"What . . ." Golden orbs went wide as Ed slowly flipped through the pages. It was a comic book. Disturbing sequences of hand-drawn artwork depicted him, Al, and other familiar people from older times in his life. In this particular case, it was the time they spent in Lior when they were a little younger. Almost all of it was how he remembered. "What is this?"

"Congratulations Ed. Where I'm from, you're a comic book and a television show."

"You're not making any sense!" Edward protested angrily.

"And you think I know anything more about it than you?!" Jordan retaliated, whipping her gaze up to his. "Idiot! Why do you think I kept this such a secret for so long, huh?! Were you really going to believe me? Of course not! And even if you had, would you really trust someone who could recite every detail of your life so far, even saying things that haven't happened yet? Edward, in one way, I know your _death._ What kind of trust do you find in me now, Ed? Go on, answer me now!"

The room fell silent. The two of them glared at each other, just daring the other to speak first. Ed wasn't sure what to say now. The secret was out, and explanations were in order. If they could even bring themselves to say anything.

"Do you get it now, Ed?" Jordan asked softly, standing up and reaching for a comb on her desk to pull through her ragged hair. She was so calm now; it was a strange transition. "Do you see why I told you nothing about where I'm from? You don't believe me, and there's no trust to find in it anyway, so why bother?"

Ed gave her a long, hard stare.

"Since I came to Amestris a year ago, I've been trying to figure out a way to get back home without telling you. That's where all my research has gone. I somehow passed literally through the Gate and wound up in Amestris." Jordan turned away from Ed, staring out her window as she passed the comb through her hair. "I thought it was all a dream at first, but soon I realized that wasn't the case. The first few days passed by like it, and I kept expecting to wake up and get back home.

"After I took that alchemy training with you, and after we almost died in Lexalin, I left to do my research without any tag-along people. I've been trying to find a way to go home, Ed. And none of it's worked." She looked over her shoulder at him, damp hair falling to frame her face. "Why do you think I was so secretive about my research? When I yelled at Al for picking up that paper. Because I would have blown my cover, and even if you didn't know the story behind it, you would have told me not to tamper with forces I couldn't control, to leave the Gate alone because you know the results that could come."

"Well, of course!" Ed replied, as if the answer was obvious. "But this can't be . . . it still doesn't make sense."

"Ha, it doesn't make sense to me either," Jordan replied with a half-hearted attempt at a chuckle. "I've tried figuring that out too. Why was a thirteen-year-old girl thrown into a world of fantasy? I was naïve when I was that young. I thought it'd be cool. Now it's like hell on earth, and it just got worse when you read that paper."

Jordan picked up the comic book, which Ed had dropped on the bed, and handed it to him. "Read it," she said. "I've already read it thousands of times, and I could recite it to you backwards if you wanted. Maybe it'll help you understand a little more where I'm from, and what I've tried to live with around you and Alphonse."

Edward pushed the book away. "No. I don't need to know anymore. If it's been a lie all this time, how do I know it'll be any more truthful now?"

"Then get out," Jordan replied coldly. "Get out. Out of my apartment, out of here. Away from the girl who is such a freak that trust isn't worthy. Go on, get."

"Why don't you?" Ed retaliated.

"Because technically it's still my damn apartment. Despite what I've been through, I earned my military status and this place through my own hard work. Even if I don't belong here in Amestris and I belong somewhere else. If you don't want to see that, don't even want to listen, then forget it. You leave."

Ed held an even glare with her before turning on his heel and leaving. Jordan watched him disappear downstairs, a sad look replacing the angry one on her features. As the door slammed below, she collapsed back on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

That was it. Because she left her journal out on the table, she'd just lost the two best friends she'd ever had or would have. She'd spent a year covering her tracks, hiding who she was and making up excuses for those hard-to-answer questions, all to have it end now because of a stupid mistake.

Oh, she should have known better! Ed was always snooping! If he wasn't such a nosy little brat, maybe this never would have happened!

"No . . . it's not Ed's fault," Jordan sighed, turning over on her stomach and crossing her arms, resting her chin on top. "It's mine. I insisted on hiding such a big secret . . . I mean, though, how would be ever believe me? It's clear he doesn't. And now he'll never trust me again. Hell, he'll never even want to see me again, and neither will Al."

A tear leaked from her eye, slipping down her cheek and onto her arm. "Damn it . . . I always make the really bad mistakes . . . I can never make a little one that I can fix easily," she mourned, burying her head in her arms.

An hour later, after a lot of thought and a decision to try to talk to Ed (he'd left a lot of things that he wouldn't want to leave, even if he didn't want to see her), Jordan walked quietly downstairs. The apartment was completely empty, not counting her.

Listlessly Jordan went to the front window, staring outside and blankly waiting to see if Ed, or even Al, would come back to the apartment soon. It was only a minute or two before she found herself spacing out, her mind among the clouds. There had to be some way to get Ed to listen, at least to allow her to apologize.

A mewing sound snapped her out of her thoughts. Slowly, Jordan blinked, and looked down. A young black cat stood on the outer windowsill, a paw pressed against the pane of glass. He gave her a hopeful look, as if asking to be allowed inside.

"Aw, stop it," Jordan said, giggling a little as she clicked open the locking latch and slid open the window. The cat trotted in, jumping down onto the floor. Smiling a little, Jordan reached out a hand to scratch behind the kitten's ears. He purred warmly, which reminded Jordan painfully of Blade, but cheered her up a little bit.

"Alright, you've had your visit, but you've got to leave now before I get too attached," Jordan said, laughing softly and reached to pick up the cat and put him back outside.

However, rather than going to her arms, the cat dodged back out of her way, literally doing a small jump to the side out of her reach.

"What the heck-" All of a sudden, the cat took several steps back. A ring of light crossed his body, and as it moved upward, uncovered a taller, and horribly familiar body.

"Remember me?" asked Envy menacingly.

* * *

"I'm telling you, Al, she said all this stuff!"

"And you just left? I thought you guys were done arguing!"

"It's not really arguing . . . but man, you should have heard her, Al." Ed shoved his hands in the pockets of his red coat, looking down at the ground. "It's hard to believe her, but . . . you just don't make that kinda stuff up."

Al sighed; the two of them were walking back to the apartment, after Alphonse had bumped into Ed on his way home. From there, the eldest brother had relayed the entire story of why he wasn't home. Needless to say, Al wasn't quite believing. "We'll just have to see when I talk to her, since you have absolutely no skill with people . . ."

"Hey! This isn't my fault!" Ed protested as they reached the apartment, setting his hand on the doorknob. "If you'd heard the stories she was telling, you'd be just as disbelieving! Besides, the way she said it, you could really tell that she wasn't lying that ti-"

As he stepped into the apartment, the sight made him cut off. Ed's gasp caught in his throat, and Al just surveyed the scene in horror.

The living room was turned over. Cushions from the sofa were overturned onto the floor, one of the legs of the coffee table had been splintered. A crimson substance stained the floor and walls, and an uncomfortably large amount of it was splattered in the living room. And there was only one person who that could belong to.

"J-Jordan?" Edward stuttered out, walking cautiously into the room. He picked his way across the broken debris, with Al trailing behind him.

"Brother, what happened here?" Al whimpered.

"I don't know Al, but it obviously wasn't something good," Ed replied carefully. Glancing across the room, he noticed that something was left on an upturned chair. It appeared to be a piece of paper, which he quickly snatched up. He skimmed through the words, and his eyes widened as he read.

"What is it, Ed?" Al asked, looking over his brother's shoulder.

"The homonculi have taken Jordan," Edward replied softly. "To an old warehouse on the edge of town. They want the Stone, and they're threatening to do worse than they have already . . ."

"Already?" Al looked around at the blood that was already spilled in the apartment. "Well, we have to get her back! She's obviously already hurt! For all we know, she could be dead by now!"

Edward shook his head. "We're going. Now." All anger he had toward Jordan dissipated to be replaced with concern and worry.

"Hey, wait, there's another note here," Al said, just before Ed was about to charge out the door. A smaller square of folded paper, smudged with a bloody fingerprint, was on the floor near the one that had already been left. Alphonse picked it up and Ed snatched it from his hands, roughly unfolding the paper square. It was a note from Jordan, and it said simply one thing:

_I'm sorry, Edward. 

* * *

__Ahahahaha. _

_Remember to review, kids._


	36. What's More Important?

_I need to start updating on time. Seriously. #smacks self# Though not many reviewed, maybe I was waiting for that or something . . . Damn my ego!_

Dawn's Twilight: Nooo, no crying! D: I'm sorry! Ahhhhh . . . too much drama in chapter . . .

Airheaded Evilness: Envy's a liar, duh.

Envy: I never promised anything.

Riiight. Anyway, Ed, yeah, get a brain! Sheesh. Oh yes, cookies would be nice. =3 Random is good.

Ruroni Angel: ;-; I'm not that horrible . . . am I? Aww . . . I'm still not sorry for the cliffhanger, however.

Wandering Hitokiri: Tehehe . . . I knew people would be really mad at Envy after that one. Da da da, Super Ed to the rescue! X3

Ed: Argh, no. No, no, no, not after those comics.

Darn. Well, save her ass again, would ya?

Coolkat and Roookie: I think I've left everyone hangin' like that. I'm sorry, but thanks. :3

Moonlight Hitokiri: You almost forgot me? Aw. How sad. Oh well. Glad to know the update was a good thing.

Celedeen Takarona: The Ultimate Showdown is pure awesome. I have the whole thing memorized, even that long bit. :D Yay nerdliness.

Ed: Not yay.

Argh. Oh well. Suspense gets kicked and Plot gets a cookie, I'm happy either way. Thanks. :3

Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1: Strangely enough, I'm glad I caught you off guard with that surprise. Yay. Anyway, Jordan'll be okay, just ya see . . . Bwehehehe . . .

NKH: Aw, thank you! I'm glad you like it so much!

MyDarkSideHasAWayOfHerOwn: Caaalm. =P 'Tis okay, though, glad ya like and whatnot.

**Syl: Argh! Hot oven, fogging glasses- **

_**For some unknown reason, Syl is trying to handle an oven. It probably isn't a good idea. The lawyer and the others are watching, seeming to find amusement in her attempts.**_

**Al: Are we just waiting to see if she sets something on fire?**

**Ed: Pretty much. **

**Lawyer: It's rather interesting, so why not?**

**Syl: I'm not burning anything. This is just fine. And . . . why is there paper in this cookie?**

_**Ed just smirks triumphantly as Syl pulls it out and reads it aloud.**_

**Syl: "Syl has absolutely no claim to 'Fullmetal Alchemist' or anything not made by her-" Hey!**

**Ed: Tehehe . . .**

* * *

The sound of dripping water, perhaps from a leaking pipe or something else of the sort, was starting to get highly on Jordan's nerves. It was a sound she'd never particularly liked, but with nothing more to distract her, all she could think was the constant dripping of water. She'd even calculated how much time between each drop of water, which was roughly two seconds, give or take a few milliseconds. That meant one thousand and eight hundred drops of water every hour to match the three thousand and six hundred seconds in an hour. So far, Jordan had counted a little over five thousand and four hundred water drops. That meant she'd spent some time over three hours in this place she could only describe as an underground passage to a warehouse, where it was cold, wet, dark, and lonely.

Jordan sighed and shook her hands for maybe the ten dozenth time. Over her head, the chains attaching her wrist shackles to the wall rattled lightly. It was incredibly uncomfortable, and her hands were bound just right so that she couldn't press her palms together for an alchemical escape.

"Damn it," she whispered again, just like she did every time she rattled her chains, as if disappointed that they hadn't slackened in the least since the last time she'd tried to pull loose. In reality, she wasn't disappointed in the condition of the shackles. Jordan was more disappointed in herself.

After she had discovered the black kitten to really be Envy, she hadn't been completely defenseless. Envy had to deal with quite a fight. In fact, most of the blood that was to be discovered belonged to the homonculus, though she'd sustained a couple of small injuries herself; Jordan was still irritated with the feeling of the thin trickle of dried blood on her lip and the thicker line that stemmed from the side of her head and down her neck. However, in the end, she'd wound up being knocked unconscious, and woken up chained to the wall. After a few more hits that she couldn't defend herself from when she refused to say anything she knew about the Stone or the Gate, Jordan had just about given up.

If Ed was really going to help, which she wouldn't blame him if he didn't, he would've shown up two hours ago.

"I had to be stupid, didn't I," Jordan mused listlessly to herself, giving up on the counting of water drops. "Yes, hm, 'Let's hide a big life-changing secret and let him find out about it by _accident_! That way, he'll hate you for life, never trust you again, you'll have even less of a chance to get home, and you'll never really get to tell him how you really feel . . ." Heaving another sigh, she slumped even lower against the wall, putting more painful strain on her arms that made her shift up again immediately. If she hadn't let Ed find out, she wouldn't be in this mess. She'd be at home, still doing her research, getting to enjoy the company of friends instead of in a lonely, frightening place with no hope of rescue while still struggling with how she felt in comparison to how much she knew she had to be hated.

"Someone just get me the hell of here!" Jordan shouted in despair. Her words echoed down the empty hallways, but nobody replied. Angrily Jordan slammed her head back against the wall, letting out a heavy breath in irritation. There had to be some sort of way out of this.

* * *

It didn't matter how much Al tried to reassure him, Edward couldn't help the overwhelming sense of guilt that had been plaguing him since they left the apartment three hours ago, even through the crazy through-town running to find the warehouse. He'd been the one to storm out in anger, not letting Jordan explain herself, and if they were too late now, there wouldn't be a second chance to listen.

The stories were most certainly unbelievable. Some other dimension where his entire life didn't even technically exist? That sounded like a complete fabrication to him and Al both. Unfortunately, it was one of those stories that was so crazy, one couldn't just make it up. Not only that, but Jordan had seemed genuinely upset to realize that he'd found out the secret. It made so much more sense, as well. Why else would she dedicate so much of her time to that research? Homesickness was an excellent motivator, he knew that himself. Edward sort of found himself wondering why he himself hadn't seen it.

Then again, that was a rather unbelievable story.

As the two of them walked through the empty underground hallways of the warehouse, listening to their footsteps echo back at them off the walls, Ed was completely alert despite his thoughts. The idea was just to get into the warehouse and get Jordan out safe. Ideally, a fight with the homonculi would be avoided. So far, the Elrics hadn't seen a thing of Envy or the others, and they would prefer to keep it that way.

"Where do you think she's being kept at?" Ed asked, looking around the hall. "Somewhere around here, I'm thinking."

"We've gone pretty far into the warehouse, so she's probably someplace close," Al agreed calmly.

"It's been a few hours though, at least," lamented Ed, pausing and putting his hands in his pockets. "Do you think she's still okay after all this time?" he asked. The simple question revealed his worry that he'd been holding onto incessantly.

Alphonse, though a little exasperated with the unneeded extra concern, knew where his brother's real reasons came from. "Jordan's fine. They wouldn't do too much to her or else their bargain for information wouldn't work, right?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Edward said with a light sigh. "Come on. Let's keep going," he added, pulling his hands back from his pockets and starting back down the hall again. The search had to continue before they were found.

The atmosphere was hardly calming. Although it was quiet, it was all the more eerie for it. The boys could hear nothing but their own footsteps and an occasional heavy breath from Ed. At any given second they expected to be found and attacked, but as the first ten minutes stretched into twenty, it was clear that this wasn't the case, although both jumped in complete surprise when Ed accidentally kicked a rock -loudly-down the hall.

When finally the stealthy search had begun to grow weary, Al noticed something. On the other side of the hall was a large metal door, closed and most likely locked. Stopping in step to make sure he wasn't seeing things, Al made his brother stop with a gentle pull to Ed's red jacket.

"Brother, look over there," he said, pointing over at the door.

"What?" Ed was snapped out of his thoughts, turning his gaze over toward the door. "Oh. What do you think is over there?"

"No harm in going to see, right?"

As expected, the door was locked, from the other side no less. Not about to be stopped by a measly lock, Ed clapped his hands and transmuted the door wide open.

The room appeared to be empty, albeit large and spacious. As the two walked in, all they could see were a couple of tables, littered with the basic supplies of an alchemist; books, pencils, test tubes half-filled with chemicals, and the like. The room appeared to be abandoned, though.

"Nothing in here," Ed sighed, turning to leave. He'd hoped, since the door was locked, that they might have found Jordan in this room. A glance downward, however, caught his eye. Under the toe of his boot, extending to the left and right on the floor, was a thick black stripe, possibly dry paint, and it ran over what looked suspiciously like a patch of old blood. Frowning and furrowing his brow in thought, Ed took a step back toward the door they'd entered from and surveyed the room from there.

"Al, come look at this," he said, making a "come over here" gesture with his hand.

"Why, did you find something?" Alphonse asked, walking over next to his brother to see.

"Look at the floor," Ed directed. "There's a transmutation array from here almost to the other wall. What do you think it's for?" Indeed, a large transmutation circle decorated the floor. Ed held his chin thoughtfully in his left hand while his right moved about in the air, tracing over the painted design; first over the outer circle, then the polygonal shapes that made up the circle's interior.

"I don't know. It almost looks like it could be used in human transmutation, like some of those old studies we've seen before," Al replied, moving to walk partway along the line nearest to him. "But it looks a little different, too."

"It looks like the lab itself is abandoned, maybe has been for years, but the circle is pretty fresh, like it could have been made within the past couple of days," Ed mused softly, tapping his finger against his chin in thought. "Even the blood stains on the floor, whatever they're from, are older. Someone's been working in here."

"Brother, you don't think the homonculi could be . . . ?" Al trailed off, letting the thought hang in mid-air.

Golden eyes widened as possible ideas came together. "They said they wanted information on the Stone," Ed realized, dropping his hands. "Maybe they haven't sacrificed anything yet, but they could be right now, with this circle in their plans, and since they still have Jordan, who knows what they're planning? The homonculi may even have gotten her to say something, and if that's the case, they wouldn't need her . . ." Ed whipped around on his heels, darting out the front door. "Come on, we've got to get out of here as soon as possible!" he called over his shoulder.

"Brother, wait, there's another door here!" Al yelled, trying to make his brother stop while pointing at another door in the corner of the room.

Ed popped back into the room. "Then we go that way," he said simply, completely ignoring the foolishness of his previous run as he sprinted to the other door instead.

Beyond the next door was another narrow hallway, just as dark and dreary in appearance as the last one. In fact, it was nigh on exactly similar, except to the right was a row of cells, separated from the hall itself with rows of rusted iron bars. The warehouse had definitely been more than a storage building in the past, with all these newly found underground secrets.

"With all these cages, maybe she's here," Edward said hopefully, peering into the closest cell. He recoiled instantly. The floor was splattered with blood, though a second glance told him it was old. However, the stone seemed to be scarred with claw marks. "Or chimeras, those could be here too . . ."

As if on cue, a low growl emitted from somewhere farther down the hall. It was faint, which meant it was far, but neither brother knew exactly how far away, or how long the corridor was. After the growl a girl's voice yelped, which was considerably more concerning.

"Come on Al, that definitely had to be someone!" Ed cried, turning his attention from the cell to start running down the corridor towards the sounds. All stealth was forgotten as they both sprinted to what they hoped was the person they were looking for.

* * *

Jordan stared in horror at the beast. She'd never seen a chimera before, at least not in person, so it was a rather shocking sight. The chimera looked like an amalgamation of some sort of big dog and a tiger, as best as she could see, with a tiger-like body dotted with fur patterns of something else, and combined features that amazing came together in what was a beautiful scientific combination and something that one would never want to meet face-to-face.

The chimera, however, as Jordan noticed, didn't seem all that dangerous. The thing was emaciated and ragged, as if maybe it had been left down here for a long period of time. In fact, it looked as much a prisoner on the other side of the bars as she was.

"Oh man, how long have you been down here?" Jordan asked quietly. She was, in fact, sickened by the idea that somebody would do such a horrible thing to animals with alchemy, a science that was supposed to do good.

The chimera whined, hanging its head and staring at her with mournful eyes.

"Alright, don't do that, I know you're just as willing to kill me for food if you could," Jordan said with a roll of her eyes. Now she was talking to things that couldn't reply, and as frightened as she was for her life at this time, she couldn't help feeling a little ridiculous. "And now I'm talking to myself, but I guess it's not clinical insanity if I don't start answering to myself . . ."

"Actually, I've heard that it's insanity either way, but in your case, the talking to yourself doesn't have to be the indicator," came a familiar voice. The chimera scampered away in fright, not wishing to be around the humans that clearly were in better condition.

"Edward Elric, this is probably the worst time to be sarcastic," Jordan hissed. The blonde laughed as he came into view with Alphonse, resting one arm against the bars of the cell she was in.

"Well why not, the rest of today certainly hasn't been cheery," Ed replied pleasantly.

"Alright, yeah, fine, whatever, go away now," Jordan sighed, resting her head back against the wall and rattling her shackles out of habit.

"Now why would I go away? I've spent at least three and a half hours trying to find you and I'm going to leave now?" Ed asked, clearly bewildered by the direction.

"Well gee, you seemed pretty pissed off earlier, I'm surprised you're even here," Jordan bit, glaring over at Ed.

Ed let out a small sigh, clapping his hands and transmuting a gap in the bars. Stepping through and leaving Al out to keep an eye out for anything or anyone, he walked over calmly. "I'm sorry, alright?" he said softly.

"For what?"

"I didn't let you explain. As much as your story is strange, I guess I should have at least made an attempt to believe what you were saying."

"Yeah right. You had every right to do what you did. I should be the one who's sorry, not you. I lied to you all this time, and you really trusted me. I'm not surprised that you wouldn't believe me." Jordan hung her head shamefully.

Though he understood what she meant, Ed felt that this probably wasn't the best time for the conversation. He knelt down in front of her and gently curled a finger under her chin, tilting her gaze to meet his.

"This really isn't the best place for apologies and guilt, so let's just say we're both sorry and forgive and forget until we get back home, alright?" he said with a smile before dropping his hand and standing up again.

Jordan couldn't help a small smile in joy and relief. So he didn't hate her after all.

"Brother! We need to hurry up! Someone's coming!" Al shouted suddenly. Indeed, footsteps could be heard coming closer, and more than one set. It sounded as if that someone had company.

"Bad timing!" Ed yelped, clapping his hands and pressing them to Jordan's shackles, which immediately fell open. Without a pause he grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, we need to get out of here!" he added quickly, pulling her so far as out of the cell before they began running down the hall in the direction they'd come.

"I think they've been planning human and chimera transmutations in here, I heard them talking about it," Jordan said as they ran, though the other footsteps sounded as if they were still getting closer.

"The room right before this was huge, with all sorts of experiment stuff in it. There was an array on the floor that we think was used or going to be used for human transmutation," Ed agreed.

"That would make sense. They threatened to kill me if I didn't say what I knew about the Philosopher's Stone and all that," Jordan said grimly.

"You did, didn't you?" Al said fearfully, worrying more for her life than information that the homonculi couldn't have used.

"You're crazy, of course I didn't," Jordan scoffed, stumbling slightly as she ran but regaining her balance immediately. "They were talking about using human beings as sacrifices, and I think they've even already taken a few for the purpose, I wasn't about to say anything that would get others killed."

Ed gave her an admiring look. Jordan noticed this and smiled lightly back at him. Then an idea crossed her mind, and she slowed her pace slightly.

"Guys, hold up, there's something important," she said quickly.

Since Ed and Al had been running a little bit ahead of her, they had to skid to a sharp halt. "What is it?" asked Ed, looking back at her.

The answer to his question came in the least expected form. Jordan hadn't stopped running, merely slowed to a jog, so as she came up, she was able to stop right in front of him. In one fluid movement working with her momentum, she grabbed the front of Ed's jacket, pulled him forward, and pressed her lips to his.

Ed's eyes flew wide open, and Al let out a small gasp in surprise. Edward initially made no movement to do anything other than look down at Jordan, his mind working furiously to figure out why she was kissing him and what the hell he was supposed to be doing. Was this just thanks, or some sort of weird impulse, or did this really mean something?

After a couple of seconds of this internal debate, he hoped for the last option, closed his eyes, and returned the kiss.

It was another few seconds before Jordan pulled back first, releasing her grip on the front of Ed's jacket. Her cheeks were tinted faintly pink as she looked at Ed and said simply, "Sorry if that freaked you out."

"No . . . no, that was perfectly fine," Ed replied with a little bit of a nervous laugh, a wry smile crossing his lips.

"We need to keep going," Al pointed out meekly. He wasn't even looking in their direction anymore, but the fact that louder footsteps and faint voices were growing continually closer was a fairly urgent fact.

"Uh, right," Edward said, coughing and turning to run again down the hall, though to be truthful he'd forgotten about the fact they were fleeing at first. "So I take it that was the 'oh-so-important' thing?" he added sarcastically, glancing at Jordan over his shoulder.

"Well, you know what, it was pretty damn important to me!"

"No complaints," Ed finished, grinning.

As they burst into the old lab room, an unpleasant surprise was waiting for them. Envy stood in the middle of the room, typical self-confident smirk on his face and arms crossed nonchalantly. As the group paused, grimacing at the homonculus, Lust and Gluttony came in through the door behind them.

"Going somewhere?" Envy asked with a raised brow.

"Well . . . okay, I have complaints now," Jordan said simply.

* * *

_Sorry to cut it here, there'll be more up sooner I hope. _

_Review please! :3 Reviews make Syl happy. _


	37. We Interrupt This Broadcast For Stuff

Hey.

I feel bad.

I let "An Alchemical Experience," my original FMA fan fiction, die, because life caught up to me.

And then I come back and people were still reviewing six months later asking me to continue. Hell, one of you reviewed earlier this month.

Stop it.

I don't like guilt trips. Jerks.

Well, in any case, I've decided to restart this story. As in, write it up from scratch. Looking back, there were parts that made no sense, plot points that got a little messy, descriptions that just made no sense, parts where it was clear I didn't know as much about my fandom as I thought, entire parts where I hate my writing, and all that. Not to mention I feel horrible and n00bish for having my own name in that story. What was I thinking in eighth grade?

So I'm starting over. With any luck, this'll be a little better.

I apologize to my old fans that the other story ground to such a halt. Hopefully I can keep this one up and follow through. And make it jam-packed with more AWESOME. Because AWESOME is GOOD.

~Syl

((And now the first chapter of that is up, called "New Experience" (I know, so original amirite). In a couple more days, I'll probably be taking this down. Just have to copy all the chapters down to new documents and stuff.))


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